Legends of the Hero of Time

by Ryan-Sinclair

The Hero of Time, Link, is blessed by the Golden Goddesses with a normal existence, free for himself to rule over. He must learn the true meaning of life as he attempts to join Hylian society. Along the way, he finds a family to call his own. Protecting and loving them, as a new threat emerges, he grows to understand how he must still endure the challenges of fate.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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[Time: 8:22 P.M. (Night) - Fifteen Minutes Later]

[Date- Month 3 'Spring', Day 24, 8th Era]

[Location- Hyrule, Forbidden Forest - Lost Woods]

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Several minutes later, Epona was still running full speed. The sound of buzzing insects dissipated until the only thing Malon could really hear was the constant crunch of the ground beneath horse hooves. "By the Goddesses, Epona… Stop! We've been going forever!" The filly quite obviously knew exactly where she was going; seeing how she always figured out how to get back to the ranch, Malon figured there wasn't much sense in being overly worried about becoming lost. The only problem was, the young girl was still terrified as well as frozen stiff from the unnerving surroundings. She was riding through an uncharted forest after dark, on top of that, the place was cursed. 'This is what I get for trying to be brave.' Her negative thoughts started beating at her ego. 'I'm just a lowly farm girl. What was I thinking?'

All the time spent feeling sorry for herself vanished the instant she heard a Wolfos howl off in the distance. Having it sound so close made all the blood in her body run cold. "Epona… Please, girl, turn around… I don't want to die."

"P-Please…" Hot tears slowly ran down her cheeks again as her reservoir decided to try and deplete itself. The farm girl was scared, hurt and growing colder by the minute from spring's cool nighttime air. "I… I'm such an idiot." Since the Wolfos she heard could be anywhere, even while sobbing, she made the wise decision to keep it as quiet as she could. Epona, being the wild-child that she is, sensed Malon's crying and neighed in response; yet, that didn't slow her down any. "It… It's true." Malon replied to Epona's neigh. "I should have known better to play the hero… I'm a fool and I-… I… I want m-my Daddy." Being as petrified as she was, unable to dismount due to the speed they were going as well as worrying that a Wolfos would get her, or that she'd turn into a Skull Kid from staying too long, all she could do was bury her face in Epona's mane to muffle the weeping. "Golden Goddesses, please help me."

Epona snorted loudly before Malon felt them slowing a bit, coming down to a canter instead of full gallop. At first, it was barely noticeable, but the filly began to act increasingly excited. Huffing more and more, she whinnied a few times to get Malon's attention. When the farm girl managed to finally look up in order to see what was causing the horse's strange behaviour, she hoped it was just the horse tiring. Instead, what she saw was a small meadow ahead, glittering with light from a group of fireflies, creating an oasis of brightness in the middle of the forest's heavy darkness. "Epona! There! Go there!" Again, a Wolfos howled mournfully, sounding closer than last time, yet still a distance away. "Hurry!"

Epona did as told despite already appearing to be heading in that direction. The meadow itself was simply a low clearing in the woods. There was a single tree located close to the center. 'Now that Epona's slowed down a bit, maybe I can get her to stop and we can wait here until morning. If I could climb the tree, I'd be safe from any monsters below while I slept on a branch.' The girl's only worries were what to do with Epona.

"Okay, girl... Whoa… Ease up." Finally, like Malon never thought the horse would, the filly slowed to a complete and utter halt, huffing and puffing in near-exhaustion. Without any further delay on her behalf, Malon dismounted as quickly as she possibly could, landing with a crunch on thick unkempt grass. "Oomph! J-Jeez." Holding her rear, her muscles and body were incredibly sore from being constantly jostled by Epona's long-term galloping. "Oww… Oww… Oh, it hurts so much." Beside her, as the hylian continued to stretch her back and rub her forehead where the branch hit her, Epona walked a few feet away. First, the filly sniffed something that was lying on the ground, the object blending in with vegetation. "My hips are killing me." Due to her own distracting pain, Malon didn't pay any attention to the horse for a moment until she neighed for the girl's focus, leaving her to turn to investigate.

"What is it? There's no time to eat grass, we have to hide before that Wolfos gets us." Once she was close enough, she realized it wasn't grass and approached to see what looked like the distinctive floppy green hat Link and the Kokiri wear. "Huh?"

Since it was so out of place, she decided to pick it up. The hat looked exactly like Link's and even made Malon suddenly feel like she might be close to wherever he is, if it is indeed his. Knowing exactly how to figure out if it was his, she decided to use knowledge she knew only because of how close to Link she was during the time she trained him how to properly ride Epona. Holding the hat to her nose, inhaling the scent, she was momentarily blessed by the gratifying aroma of freshly washed linen, pine, and a tinge of sweat; all the exact same as Link's scent. "Link…" she said, while feeling embarrassed that she was able to tell it was his "Epona, this is Link's!" Looking around, a little ways forward toward the tree in the center of the miniature meadow, was what looked like his Hylian Shield, the very same that he told her he bought from the Bazaar in the Marketplace of Castle Town for a whopping eighty Rupees. "Oh no! That's his shield! He must be nearby! He has to be!"

Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming amount of relief, while at the same time, quite a bit of shame for doubting Epona in the first place. If she had enough courage within, she could have ridden here without all the drama, without the fear of Stalchildren, Wolfos, or any Curse of the Lost Woods. All of that crying made her feel like a weak sissy-girl; but it was a great feeling when she found his hat, one that made all the tribulations worth it.

"Link!? Are you around here!?" As she made her way closer, her heart grew heavy at the discovery of it indeed being Link's Shield; not a random Hylian Shield as she had prayed, but his custom made, outrageously priced at four hundred and fifty rupees, Hero's Shield. "Heaven forbid if anything happened to you."

Hearing another ferocious howl in the distance, a blood curdling shriek from an unknown animal was immediately followed, as if the creature had been caught by the Wolfos doing all of the howling. Epona and Malon both froze in place to listen to the nearby struggle of life and death, prey and predator, diner and dinner. A few snarls later and the woods were quiet again, leaving the farm girl shivering in fright. "T-That could have been me."

"L-Link, please be close by." Even though Malon certainly wasn't a Hylian Knight, She'd seen Link use his shield enough to know that she simply had to slide her arm through the leather straps on the backside in order to hold it properly. She chose her left arm since she was right handed, needing her dominant free for use. The metals the shield was created from made it heavy, but that just proved it could deflect an attack from a possible Wolfos, if she just so happened to run into one. "Come on, Epona… Let's go find Link…." Scanning the area, she hollered for him one more time. "Link, where are you!?"

Knowing that the Wolfos could hear her shouting wasn't a good thing to be aware of, especially after having just heard the agony from whatever critter was likely torn to shreds just a few minutes ago. Considering this, it wasn't a surprise she nearly jumped out of her skin and/or almost wet her panties when a long moan came from around the center of the meadow. "W-What was that!?" Her right hand clasped itself over her mouth as she stared wide-eyed in the direction of the large tree in the middle of the meadow. 'It didn't sound like a Wolfos.' Taking into account that this place is called the Forbidden Forest, she figured it could literally be anything; even something that she didn't know existed.

'Link told me that he's fought zombies before… I didn't believe him for a while. ReDeads are supposed to be only legend.' Paranoia littered her mind in unescapable waves as she imagined a ReDead crouching behind the tree, waiting for her to come find it before grabbing her and sucking all her life out, leaving her as nothing but a husk. 'Oh no… No, no, no, no, no! What could possibly be moaning like that, other than a zombie!?' As if she'd walked straight into a trap, the Wolfos in the distance howled again, making her take a step forward; and, in response, the crunch of grass beneath her feet made whatever it was residing by the tree let out another grueling moan of agony. 'By the Goddesses, I'm surrounded out here!' Epona's ears stayed stiff as she too analyzed the surroundings. Part of Malon wanted to hop on the horse again and make an attempt to ride out of there. However, coming so far and finding these clues would mean absolutely nothing if she left now.

"Come on, Epona. We'll go together." The farm girl said while lowering her hand from my mouth. "We don't have another choice." The filly snorted before waiting for Malon to take the lead, something that, at this moment, she didn't feel too grateful for being first on. Both of Them slowly crept forward, trying to stay as quiet as they could with her feet and Epona's hooves inching toward the direction where the moan came from.

"L-Link?" Malon softly called out for him. This time, instead of a moan, there was a long pause before what sounded like a single deeply-congested cough. The farm girl's legs shook as she walked closer, shivering in fright over the possibility of what it is that she was going to find. 'Daddy, I wish you were here! I'd even settle on Ingo! Anybody!' As she neared the tree, she almost tripped over something lying on the ground, making a metal clank as she tried to catch her balance. "What the-…?"

Below her, when she looked down, was a small short-sword that she'd definitely seen before. She wasn't a Hylian Knight, but she immediately equipped herself with the sword in a slightly awkward fashion. Never before had she been called to arms, and it didn't feel right holding it in her hand. Yet, she knew she couldn't allow anything to hurt her, for her father's sake as well as the ranch's. 'I think this is Link's as well.' Holding the sword more like a dagger and giving a few extraordinarily brief practice stabs, she proceeded to move on, coming closer to the tree where more moaning groans were emanating from; praying all the while for her own safety. "Link?" She spoke louder, freezing in place afterward when things grew quiet again. The tree itself was massive, three times thicker than the surrounding ones. From the vantage point the pre-teen was standing at, it looked like there was an opening through the bark, like a small slit where it's been partially hollowed out. The closer she drew to it, the more she was able to make out frightening drag marks on the ground, going twenty feet toward the tree itself. 'Oh no… This doesn't look good.'

Once Malon's hand touched the tree, she continued inching along the trunk while staring at where the drag marks began. Covered in dirt and grass was an ocarina, one that looked particularly fancy, being blue in colour with a golden embroidered Triforce emblem around the base of the mouthpiece. 'All of these things are Link's, that's his ocarina… It's proof he's around here.' With the highest of hopes, the best thing she could do was pray as she came to the entrance of the bark, pray that Link was nearby instead of it being some lurking ReDead moaning from death while waiting for its next victim; who would just so happen to be a red-headed hylian girl. The moaning itself was becoming shallower, as if whoever or whatever was fading away. Despondency and anguish were profoundly rooted within the groans, as if it was the sound of one being tormented by suffering a slow death, yet, holding out hope that it'll make it, clinging onto the last of its life. 'Come on, Malon… Keep it together.'

'Instead of standing here contemplating and rambling on in my head about how scary everything is, I should just go find out… I-It can't be that hard to use this sword and shield.' With her heart racing rapidly, she continued to struggle with herself to make a move. Even though she definitely wanted to see what it was that was groaning, she was also terrified of potential monsters that might overpower her within seconds, leaving her defenseless and looking tasty. "Okay… I can do this." She whispered to herself while breathing deeply, taking a few breaths to hype herself up for what may happen. "On three…... One… Two… T-T… Three!" Epona watched in wonder as the farm girl spun around to face the entrance while holding the sword up in the same dagger-like fashion she did before, staring all the while into the near darkness until she gasped at what she saw.

Leaned up against the inside trunk of the tree, was an extremely disheveled Link. "LINK!" Malon screamed to the top of her lungs, already thanking the Goddesses while still in utter disbelief that she was able to actually find him after going through this whole ordeal. "By the Goddesses, I found you!"

Instantly she ran to him, crouching beside him while he continued to moan all those sounds she'd been hearing. "Oh, no! What happened to you!?" He looked like he'd been here for quite a while, appearing dirty, bruised, and dehydrated. There was something more though; his eyes were closed and his skin was blue and puffy, cold to the touch. When Malon held her hand to his chest, she found that he felt like he barely had a heart beat at all, his breathing was incredibly shallow too. A tiny trickle of blood was dried on his upper lip. Below, between his legs, was a puddle where more blood had accumulated when it was fresh. Now the blood looked like gooey chunks of gel, revolting to say the least.

On the left side of his forehead, he had what appeared to be a deep gash, possibly where he had fallen off Epona, if that's even what happened. Whatever was happening wasn't normal, not by any means. "I don't really know what to do!"

Link's eyes suddenly shot open and he coughed roughly, spitting out a bit of blood that landed near Malon's boot. "R-Romani…" He spoke with a hoarse voice. "What are you d-d…doing here? Don't you know the moon i-is going to crash into us? Go to Cremia; you t..two enjoy a nice glass of chateau romani and get a g-g-great night's rest." His teeth chattered as his eyes stayed red and glazed over, as if he wasn't really staring at anything at all. "D-Don't worry… I'll stop the S-Skull Kid and get back Majora's Mask…... All… All I need, all I need is three days."

Malon had no clue who or what Link was talking about. She had never heard of anyone called 'Romani' or 'Cremia'. Neither has anyone ever said anything about a 'Majora's Mask', and the moon most certainly wasn't falling.

Her concern grew as she looked around the hollowed out tree for any signs as to what exactly happened. To the side was what appeared to be a jar full of fireflies, the only thing providing any light at all. Above him were drawings of different things, carved in the wood; a young boy resembling Link, a Skull Kid, two fairies, and four strange looking gargantuan, orange-skinned, humanoid figures. Other than that, nothing else around was unnatural from the rest of the forest.

"Link, can you hear me? It's Malon… Come on, wake up!" She called out to him. Suddenly, both her ears started to tingle as she picked up a faint sound coming from far away. It was high-pitched as well as completely indecipherable. Regardless of what the noise was, the farm girl knew she had to figure out some way to get Link on Epona. There was nothing she could do to help him here in the forest. The only thing she could do was carry him to safety, to civilization, where hopefully medicine would have a cure for this goddess-awful disease.

"No!" Link suddenly shouted, not directly to Malon or anyone in particular. "You don't understand! I… I have the power within me now; I have the ability to control it…... M-…Majora's Mask, I've defeated it…. I-I-I became a Fierce Deity… A FIERCE DEITY! FIERCE DEITY!"

His delusional yelling ended abruptly as he coughed up blood, leaving Malon to wipe her face from a drop landing on her cheek. She wasn't disgusted; it wasn't really his fault. If anything, she was more than glad that he stopped announcing their location to the world with nonsense about a 'Fierce Deity'. "Link, you have to wake up!"

The redhead's ears sensed the sound of movement, very slight, making her begin to get a feeling that something or someone was behind her. 'W-Wha-…... Is… Is someone behind me?' The sensations made her left eye twitch a bit as well as her blood turn cold. It seemed obvious to her that whomever or whatever it was behind her, it wasn't going to be friendly. 'If it did this to Link, then it must be extraordinarily dangerous.' The farm girl speculated from fear prior to delving into madness. 'Oh, by the Goddesses! What if it's a deranged killer living out his dreams in the isolation of the forest!? He's going to kill me and eat me! I'll just be another Stalchild wandering the woods in torment and pain! No-No-No-No! I don't want to die!' Before long, she knew she had to figure out a way to summon the courage to turn around. She had to defend herself and not let this psychopath murder her like some ragdoll who never expected it.

"He's not going to wake up, you know?" A warped and muffled boy-like voice from behind her unpredictably said.

Malon screamed and spun around as fast as she could, using the shield to smash the face of whoever it was, forcing the being back against the bark hard enough for it to hurt.
"WHO ARE YOU!?" She screamed, as the person held his face while squirming on the ground. He was short in stature, wearing a red hat and a cloak which covered an under layer of clothing composed of a straw-like material. Thankfully, at first glance, there didn't appear to be any weapons on him.

"Waaauhaha! My face, my face! You broke my gorgeous face!" The being began to sob in agony.

Malon didn't know who he was nor did she care that he held his face as if she had caused it to cave in. "What did you do to Link!?" She demanded an answer as he simply groaned. Her breathing gradually returned to normal as the excitement slowed. Without any further delay, she quickly bent down to pick up the Kokiri Sword, wanting it just in case the strange forest person tried anything harmful/stupid.

"I didn't do anything to him!" He replied.

When Malon glanced back at Link, the blonde boy's eyes had once again closed and he wasn't moving, making her fear the worse. "Well, he didn't do this to himself!" Even though she was terrified, she bluffed her way through this by holding up the sword in that same dagger-like position. "Don't lie to me! I'll kill you for what you've done!"

The being continued to hold his face while rolling on the ground in tears. "I didn't do anything! He's turning!"

'Turning?' Malon thought as she gradually lowered the sword. Although the guy scared her half to death, she started to feel bad for him now. If it's true that he didn't do anything to Link, then he might be able to at least answer a few questions. With a sigh, the farm girl asked "Are-… Are you okay?"

He sniffled while responding immediately "N-No! You broke my face!"

Since Malon was in no mood to toy around, she figured he had a busted nose from the shield. "Let me see it." Proceeding another minute, the strange forest person quit squirming. He slowly stood up prior to uncovering his face, shocking Malon and making her heart thump as the person's face looked almost like a wooden scarecrow with a bird's beak for a mouth. "GHAA! WHAT ARE YOU!?"

The creepy wooden forest person ceased crying all together and merely laughed in a playful manner, amused by the young hylian girl's reaction to his appearance. He slapped his knee jokingly before flipping closer to Malon. "Haha! I'm just kidding! You didn't break my face… I'm a Skull Kid. It's a pleasuuure to make your acquaintance! Hahahaha!"

Malon's jaw dropped in horror despite the fact that all the Skull Kid did was do a little jig and then hold out his hand, as if he expected her to shake it as some sign of friendship. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She held the sword back up, scared of him in a strange kind of way, simply because he's a Skull Kid. He only cocked his head to the side while reaching into his tattered coat pocket. Malon might not be very intimidating, but she certainly wasn't foolish. "No! Keep your hands where I can see them or I'll have your head!" He stared at her as she mentally smacked herself over the poor choice of words. 'Or I'll have your head? Come on, Malon! What's wrong with you!? Who do I think I am, the King of Hyrule!?'

After a few more seconds, the Skull Kid pulled out a wooden flute and began playing a jaunty melody. "Have no fear, my dear!" He spoke afterward "I'm not going to hurt you. I only wish to have fun! You see, I'm merely a lost Kokiri who left the Great Deku Tree. Because I'm so far out here, I often get lonely….." He played a few notes in advance of scratching the side of his wooden head. "Hmm… Now that you're here, how about we play hide-and-go-seek!? Ooh! Or, how about tag!? Or… Or maybe a race! I bet I'm faster than you! Hehe! Boys rule, girls drool… All of that sort of good stuff! Don't be a Cucco!" The energetic imp proceeded to make Cucco noises, clucking and squawking at her.

Malon didn't know much of anything about Skull Kids, so she wasn't sure if this was normal behaviour for them or not. It certainly didn't seem like it to her. In her own opinion, this being was an absolute lunatic. "No way! You stay away from me! Do you hear!?"

He stopped playing the flute as Malon bent down to nudge Link, attempting to wake him up. For a moment her fears grew bigger, making her shake Link harder when he didn't respond. Soon enough though, the injured boy proved he was alive by letting out a deep groan. The Skull Kid sighed while watching her try to awaken her friend. "He's not going to wake up… He's turning."

Again, Malon didn't understand what he was talking about. All she knew was that she wasn't going to give up on Link no matter what. "What do you mean, he's turning!?"

The Skull Kid took the jar of fireflies from the ground before jumping up high inside the tree, much higher than Malon had ever seen a person jump. He then simply floated in mid-air, astonishing the farm girl beyond all her comprehension.

"Don't you know?" He asked "I mean, it's common knowledge… The Great Deku Tree warns everyone. Even the Kokiri warn people."

Malon's patience with this guy was wearing extremely thin. In spite of that, there wasn't much she could do since he was hovering twenty feet above her. "Just tell me!"

As if he was telling a story, the Skull Kid floated along the inside of the tree trunk, illuminating the innards to reveal more carvings. There were hundreds of engravings, all depicting different things. The one in particular that he stopped at appeared to be of a man sitting on a tree stump while sulking. Then, the one next to that, with an arrow leading to it, is of a skeleton. "Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. The curse turns people, it turns everyone. Everybody will become a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos." The spookiness of how he said it didn't assist in making Malon feel good about the situation. He should have known better than to word it that way as all he did was concern her further regarding her own safety. Then again, there probably wasn't any good way to tell someone that they and their friend were at risk of turning into a Stalfos.

The lump in Malon's throat made it painful to swallow both her saliva and the information. "S-Stalfos?" With shocking hesitation, she glanced back at Link in horror, trying her hardest to understand everything that's happening and what it is that she should do. "No…" The farm said while the Skull Kid continued to nod in response. "No…" Malon became adamant. "No way… Link! Wake up!" In the blink of an eye, she formed accusations. "Why!? Why would you do something like this to him, you monster!?"

The Skull Kid narrowed his eyes, quickly defending himself against the young Hylian's assertion. "Whoa… Hey, easy… First of all, I'm not a monster. Second, I didn't do this to him."

Tears flowed down Malon's face as the erratic imp landed on the ground like a feather, without so much as stirring up any dust. She turned her head and snapped at him. "Then who did!? What happened to him!?"

The Skull Kid walked over toward the entrance of the tree before peeking out, staring up at the stars, focusing intently on the moon. "The Lost Woods happened to him…" The realization hit Malon that the curse was true and that she herself needed to get out of there before she turned into a Stalchild. For the moment, however, she had to listen to the Skull Kid talk as he continued. "I tracked him for miles after seeing him unconscious on top of that wild beast of a creature you own… He looked like he'd been riding for a while. When I managed to finally get him off the four legged beast, I took him here where I've looked after him since. That was about three days ago."

Everything was spiraling out of control for Malon. She felt that she had no idea what to do. All that she could muster was the ability to listen to what the Skull Kid was saying as he spun around to walk closer to her and Link.

"The first day, with a bit of assistance from me, he ate the food I foraged for. That didn't last long. After nightfall he lost all awareness…" For a brief moment, the Skull Kid frowned, saddened by Link's deteriorating health. Nonetheless, before long, he perked up with his usual weird pepiness. "He's still my friend though! Ooh! Hehe, I even read him my favourite story; one that I made up all on my own! It's so great!" He clapped his hands before trying to approach them, only to have Malon raise the shield again.

The imp flinched, frightened a bit as he took into account what she did to him the last time with that shield. The farm girl thought it could all be a trick and wanted to make sure he was going to try to pull one over on her. "It's okay, look… I wanted to show you this carving." He pointed to the pictures of himself, Link, two fairies and the giants. "See? It's about a boy who transforms into different races to stop the moon from falling… It's a deep story about the struggle of life and death, all that good stuff that my listeners love! I even volunteered to be the bad guy! Hehe!"

For just a second, Malon remembered Link saying something in his delirium about the moon falling. Then, she was forced back into reality by the Skull Kid playing his flute cheerfully. "How about we become friends too? Come on, I'm really a nice person. I promise! I'll even tell you my story as well!"

"NO!" Malon screamed, pushing him back as more tears cascaded down her cheeks. She wasn't in the mood for fun and games, nor forming a new friendship. All she wanted to do was help her best friend. "I want Link! I want him to be okay!" Suddenly, in spite of not fully trusting the imp, she pleaded for his assistance. "Please! Is there anything that I can do to stop him from turning!?"

Although she rejected his friendship, seeing her obvious despair, the Skull Kid scratched the back of his head while staring at her. "No… Not really."

At that moment, the young Hylian girl broke down into long sobs, afraid that she'd lost any faith in rescuing Link. She came all this way only to wind up watching him turn into a Stalfos right before her eyes. If at any point the Goddesses were listening to prayers, now was the time in which she had to have hope they might choose. "Oh, Link! I'm so sorry…" With sniffles and salty weeping, she held his left hand, entwining their fingers together. "Why did you come into the woods!? Why!?" Behind her, the Skull Kid played his flute while pacing around the tree's insides. For a second, Malon wondered if the woodland imp even cared about Link's condition since he was playing music instead of mourning the loss of a hero.

Eventually, the diminutive being spoke. "He said something about a fairy, but he was probably hallucinating… It's part of the process. The Kokiri could tell you more… I never really paid attention to the details when I was around.". The Skull Kid placed his hands to his hips. "They might even know the recipe for the cure."

At first, Malon figured that if she couldn't do anything for Link, then a bunch of other forest kids couldn't do anything either, even if they weren't the same as Hylians. Upon hearing that there was a cure, she almost choked in both surprise and anger that I wasn't informed of it previously. "Why didn't you tell me there was a cure!?"

Proceeding a solid minute of silence, he awkwardly cocked his head in visible confusion. "Huh? Oh, wait… I did…... Just now, remember?"

If he wasn't so creepy, Malon felt as if she'd get close enough to personally chop his head off, simply to make him be quiet. Somehow, she had to figure out a way to get Link back to the Kokiri Village where someone more stable than a Skull Kid might help. 'Now that I think about it, that fairy from the green-haired girl earlier today acted like she recognized Link's name, and Link always said he came from the village.' Once her mind was dead set on what she had to do, she whistled for Epona. Although the filly didn't want to, she was able to partially fit inside the tree, close enough for the farm girl to be able to transport Link. Malon prayed that with luck, the horse wouldn't freak out and run off beforehand.

"What are you doing?" The Skull Kid asked, conspicuously nervous about Epona, who seemed just as disturbed by his presence too.

At this point, Malon intended to take the unconscious hero to the village regardless of whether or not the Kokiri could actually help. These Lost Woods are no place for a young boy such as himself to be while trying to recuperate. She also figured that the Kokiri, like the one she encountered whenever she first entered the woods, would probably like to know that he's safe as well. On top of that, being away from the Skull Kid would make her feel safe, safer than out here in the dark, in the middle of the forest. She desperately needed that. She couldn't stand knowing that at any moment, a monster could appear from nowhere to devour her like a tasty snack. "I'm taking him to the Kokiri Village."

The Skull jumped into the air, making Epona whinny while rearing up in apprehension. "What? But-… But you guys are my friends. You can't leave now."

Whenever he said that, something gave Malon the feeling that he might try and stop her. If that's the case, she felt that she'd be ready to use this sword on him without any hesitation whatsoever. There was nothing in this world that was going to stop her from getting Link to safety. "Don't try and stop me or I'll make you into a scarecrow! Look, can't you see that he needs help?"

The Skull Kid drifted around them in the air as the farm girl grabbed Link by his shoulders, hoisting him up a sufficient amount to drag. "But, I've been taking good care of him! He's fine! Just relax… Let's play a game." He smiled, although it did absolutely nothing to assure Malon of his friendliness.

If she could convince him otherwise, she hoped that she might be able to get out of there without dealing with the stress of a sudden battle; what would be her first fight. "Mr. Skull Kid-thing… err… guy... Look, don't you want him to get better?"

The Skull Kid raised a wooden eyebrow while turning his vision toward Link, who was completely unconscious. "Huh?"

While tugging Link further, Malon continued to explain, skillfully talking her way out of a possibly hostile situation. "He's sick. If I can get him better, then he'll be able to play with you even more, instead of turning into a nasty Stalfos that'll just want to kill us."

He blinked a few times while taking another minute to let everything she said fully soak in. "Hmm… That is true, I would like for him to play hide-and-seek with me, or even tag… And Stalfos are nasty… Plus, being killed hurts! Okay-Okay, you're right! Let's get him some help before he turns." Now that he'd finally seen Malon's point of view, he swooped down to assist her a bit with lifting Link up onto Epona.

"Easy, girl." Malon said, keeping the filly calm as the Skull Kid held Link up while she mounted the saddle.

"How will you get him to hold on?" The Skull Kid asked.

As she adjusted herself on Epona's saddle, Malon realized that she had to find some way to get Link to hold on, or else he'd just fall off the moment Epona began moving. If she had something to tie his hands together, that might work. "I know what I could use." The orange scarf around her neck would probably be the best thing that she could use to tie his hands around her. Once again, she found that something given by her late mother would turn out to be useful. The Skull Kid watched as the farm girl untied the scarf and then placed Link's hands around her waist before wrapping the fabric around them, knotting the material tightly to make sure it wouldn't come undone. Malon mentally noted that it would be embarrassing if Link was awake, as she'd never had someone hold onto her like this before, especially not a handsome boy.

"You'll come back to visit, right?" The Skull Kid abruptly spoke, breaking Malon out of thought.

Even though he was helping and didn't seem to be as hostile as Malon thought he'd be; it still seemed like a good idea for her to merely agree so she could get out of there. "Yeah… As soon as I can get him some help, we'll be back to keep you company." He smiled; following as Malon whipped the reins a bit to tell Epona to move out of the tree, back out into the meadow. The air was still crisp and the moon could be seen in the corner of the sky, off in the east, leaving the red-headed Hylian to believe that it was around eight o'clock at night.

"I'll help you out with directions!" In the blink of an eye, the Skull Kid flew up into the sky and looked around prior to coming back down. "You're going to want to head south from here to get to Kokiri Village… I'll mark trees with paint for you if you want, that way you won't get lost!"

Considering she had been alone in a cursed forest at night, Malon figured it would be best if she had as much company as possible, even if that company was a weirdo who's not quite right in the head. "Thank you… Alright, Epona… Giddy up!" With more rein whipping, the filly slowly moved back toward the direction they came from. Epona had traveled many miles already and there was no telling how much food or water she had while missing, so Malon was well aware of the fact that the horse was probably very close to being drop-dead exhausted. However, they had no choice other than to couldn't stay there or else Malon and Link would succumb to whatever ailment the forest forces upon people. "Gallop!"

Along with a neigh, Epona eventually brought her speed up to a canter until the crunching grass from the meadow came to an end. The Skull Kid zoomed past them, waving playfully prior to dipping his index finger in some paint he appeared to be holding in the palm of his hand.

"Hold on, Link…" Malon said. She whipped the reins more, trying to tell Epona to go faster, but the horse couldn't seem to muster much more than what she already was, only quickening her pace ever so slightly. Link, on the other hand, moaned while breathing extremely shallowly, barely enough for Malon to feel as his chest rose with repeated laboured wheezing. 'Provided that I'm not being lied to, the Kokiri should have a cure for this 'turning into a Stalfos' thing that's happening.' The only worries she held were that his stage had reached a point where it was untreatable. "I'm going to get you out of here and you'll be back to normal in no time."

"Nnn…" Link groaned "T-The… The four giants c-c-can stop the moon from f…falling, I just know i-it."

'That Skull Kid's story must have gotten through to him on some level and now he's stuck thinking about it.' Part of it made her curious as to exactly what it was that's going on inside of his mind. 'Is he in some sort of daze, a state of twilight, or completely and utterly delirious, imagining he's in another world, like a dream?'

"Shh, it's okay… Just rest, you'll be safe and sound soon." The farm girl tried to comfort him.

Link simply continued to mumble about moon children before losing consciousness again. Epona huffed as the Skull Kid marked multiple trees with paint and then slowed down enough for them to catch up.

"I can only go so far, the last two miles toward Kokiri village will be entirely up to you." The Skull Kid said, making Malon stare until he provided an explanation. "I'm a Skull Kid… We're not accepted by Kokiri anymore because we're too mischievous and unstable." Hearing that, it was obvious why, especially in regards to everything that the youthful Hylian had seen. Though, since he hadn't tried to kill her, she was now thankful that he was here. If it wasn't for him, Link might not have made it; seeing as how he was initially completely exposed to the elements.

"Thank you." Malon suddenly spoke.

"Huh?" The Skull Kid responded with a bit of surprise in his tone of voice.

Once more, she repeated herself, just to show gratitude for his assistance. "Thank you-… for taking care of my friend." That strange smile of his took form on his beak-like lips as Epona finally sped up, galloping now.

"You're very welcome." After a few minutes of staring, he swooped down beside her and just hovered there. "My name's Timi… Or, was… I just thought I'd tell you that. It's been a while since I've told anyone; a good fifty or so years."

For a couple of moments, the farm girl was stunned that he said fifty years, as he seemed childish, including in voice and body. However, either he's lying or just able to live a long time. "My name's Malon and my friend here is called Link."

Off in the distance, a howl echoed through the woods, making both of them turn their heads to the direction it came from. Oddlily, the Skull Kid soon shrugged off the howl and laughed softly. "So… Is he your boyfriend? You two do look cute together."

Malon's cheeks began to burn red as it certainly wasn't a topic she was expecting him to bring up. Caught off guard like she was, all she could think of to do was deny it. "What!? Link and I?! No!"

He smirked as she continued to feel embarrassed at his question. Thinking of Link in a romantic way made her heart race a bit. Even though she was quick to reject the notion, deep down, she had to question herself to find out if there was indeed anything she felt for him. After all, she did just put herself in life-threatening danger in order to come find him. She even directly disobeyed her father without any regard whatsoever. Because of all that, it made the Skull Kid, Timi, see through her denial. "Hehe… Sure. If you say so."

Malon's blush remained prominent while she looked away from him, still embarrassed beyond all means. "Link's just my friend!" In response to what she said, she felt like strangling herself when her inner-voice said 'Even if he is cute.'

"Alright, Alright… I believe you." Abruptly, another howl came from ahead, frightening Epona while alerting them. "There's a lot of Wolfos out tonight." An obvious statement by Timi that Malon could've lived without.

Regardless, Malon was glad he was there with her. The idea that a furry beast could be close by, stalking them, soon popped into her mind and refused to leave. "Yeah…" Was all she could think of to say.

Something was off, the farm girl could just sense it; kind of like that feeling people get when they're being stared at from behind. She did have Link's sword and shield on her. However, as evident by her terrible shield posture and grip on the sword's handle, it was highly doubtful that she'd be able to properly defend herself the way she would need to if it was a fast moving monster.

"Anyway, like I was saying…" The Skull Kid resumed. "Your 'Link' is quite a special kid… You have a good reason for being fond of him."

Even though she already knew that Link was special in his own way, she got the impression that the imp was talking about more than what she already knew. "What do you mean?"

He yawned before rising further up into the air, drifting over to the farm girl's right side instead of her left. "Can't you tell? He's just special… He has a purpose. He's unique in just about every possible way that you can imagine."

Epona didn't particularly enjoy the imp's strange and jerky movements. Thankfully, she kept going full-speed anyway. While everything was going good so far, that feeling of being watched was the only thing left that gave Malon a sense of immediate danger. She turned her head to look behind her, noticing that Link was still completely unconscious, leaving her to analyze their surroundings for who or what it was that's keeping its eyes on her.

"How do you know?" Malon asked just to try and get her mind off the eerie sensation.

The Skull Kid moved onward then proceeded to mark more trees, like he was leaving a path despite physically leading her the correct way. "The Great Deku Tree once said that an outsider, a Hylian with heroic blood blessed by the three Goddesses, would one day live with the Kokiri… Your friend Link may dress like a Kokiri, but he isn't… I can smell the difference."

Keeping her eyes ahead, Malon wondered how much of what he said could be considered noteworthy. Link did live with the Kokiri, and she could probably validate the part about what this 'Great Deku Tree' guy-thing said by asking one of the Kokiri. Plus, on top of that, she recalled Link proclaiming to be on a great adventure to save the kingdom. 'At the time, I didn't believe him and neither did my dad.' All of this had been in her mind beforehand; once she realized it, she couldn't help other than to wonder why Link was the way he was. Then again, she was quickly growing tired of the Skull Kid being cryptic.

"Whatever, I'm not talking to you anymore." She responded, not desiring to talk to him anymore if he wasn't going to explain things in-depth.

Timi chuckled before making another tree with paint. "Well excuuuse me! Sheesh… Two hundred and something years and girls still haven't changed their sassy ways!"

.

[Time: 9:00 P.M. - Ten Minutes Later]

.

A howl from behind the group took away the previous peace of the nighttime forest. Timi was still with Malon, but already warned of nearing the point where he must depart and return home. Whatever happened from then on was entirely up to the farm girl. "That one was really close!" She said while turning her head to check on Link's condition, which had not improved in the least.

"Yeah… They become more active as the night progresses, until midnight, when they're at their peak of activity." Timi spoke.

Hearing that brought Malon no comfort. Then again, she had a definite reason for being paranoid, so it wasn't like she was losing her mind. She'd only have to go a few miles on her own. With any luck, she'd have the Goddesses on my side. Still, she wished she could get more assistance from someone currently closer than divinity. "A-Are you sure you can't stay with me until we reach the village?" She asked the imp with a hint of plea in her voice.

"I'm afraid not…" Timi shook his head. "You see, it's not only the Kokiri who I'm avoiding, it's the Great Deku Tree's magic… It changes us, and… well, I don't feel like going through the process of things that happen to Skull Kids who come back."

Mentally, Malon was feeling scared, yet also knew that she had to prevail in order to save Link.

"You're almost to the village…" Timi assured her, trying to boost her confidence. "All you have to do is continue going straight for a few miles and you'll eventually come to a clearing." As soon as he began to slow down, the farm girl knew that it was time for him to leave her, even if it was happening sooner than she initially thought it would be.

Epona was breathing rapidly, thus Malon decided that they should take a short break. The horse slowed to a halt as soon as Malon pulled back on the reins, showing the complete opposite personality of what she displayed earlier. "Whoa… Rest, girl."

Timi marked the tree next to them with a big 'X' before using a leaf to wipe his hands on. "I'll have to head back. I'm already beginning to feel woozy." He blinked a few times before approaching them. Malon kept Epona calm by petting her head, not letting her focus on anything else but brief recuperation. As the Skull Kid laid his left hand on Link's shoulder, he said "Get better, buddy… So we can play tag and you can listen to me play my flute while I tell you my story again!"

Link wasn't awake. However, Malon knew that he would have appreciated everything the Skull Kid had done for him. A small smile formed on her lips. "Thank you, Timi."

He turned to look at her in advance of showing a smile of his own. Letting go of Link, he floated back the way they previously came, in the direction of his home. "You're welcome, Malon… You and your boyfriend come again! Stay safe!"

Malon's smile disappeared, replaced with a blush as she whipped the reins and shouted back at the mischievous imp. "He's not… my… boyfriend!"

Timi's odd laughter could be heard while he drifted off into the forest's misty background. After that, the farm girl was alone again; in a certain sense that is, considering Link was useless in his current condition. Epona obeyed the command of the reins and once more started running at a canter. 'That's two people now that have said something about us…' Malon thought about what the Skull Kid said in order to occupy herself. 'Dad teases both of us nonstop about getting married and such… Ughh!' Despite her mind going crazy with erratic thoughts, she shook her head out of contemplation, paying attention as she caught notice of something that moved in a bush up ahead.

Epona's ears twitched some as she sensed the same movement. More howls ensued, seemingly from every direction. "Oh no…. Faster, Epona! Gallop!"

Timi had left not two minutes ago and she was already terrified that she'd get her head ripped off by a Wolfos. Thankfully, to bring a tiny bit of closure, an owl with a mouse in its talons flew out of the bush that had moved, leaving Malon to rest assured that it wasn't a monster there. On the other hand, there was a worsening paranoia feeling going on inside her as she kept glancing over her shoulder to check what was behind them. "Go away!" The zestful farm girl yelled just in case there indeed was something stalking them. 'Whatever it is, I hope it isn't hungry.'

"Nnn… All of the masks belong to the H-Happy Mask Salesman." Link abruptly said in delirium before laying his head on Malon's shoulder.

Unexpectedly, Epona slid to a near halt, neighed, and reared up; leaving Malon to watch as a beast on four legs quickly ran across the way they were going, disappearing into shrubbery on the side. "What was that!?"

Malon's fears were soon exposed as reality when the familiar howling from earlier sounded off to the side of them. The creature was truly stalking them the entire time, watching and waiting for the right moment. It found that moment when Timi left, allowing the farm girl to be near defenseless. "WOLFOS! Go, Epona! Go! Go! GO! GALLOP!"

The horse dashed forward, running at full speed, becoming wild again in the presence of a savage animal; a monster that was a grave threat to all three of them. 'Why now!?' Malon thought while gritting her teeth from frustration, clenching them as tight as she could. 'Why did a Wolfos have to appear now when I'm so close!?' The fiercest snarl she'd ever heard in her life resonated throughout the woods as the beast itself appeared running beside the, chasing them with evil intent in its eyes and foaming drool dripping from its maw. Seeing how Malon's cover was completely blown and she was positive that it was hunting her, she screamed to the top of her lungs, praying inside all the while that someone would help.

"GO AWAY! SOMEBODY, HELP! HEEELP!" The farm girl's shouting did nothing other than entice the Wolfos as it sensed her fear as well as her weakness. Slowly but surely, it crept closer in spite of the quick bursts of speed Epona was performing in an attempt to evade the monster at all costs. Thinking semi-coherently, Malon readied the shield to repel a possible attack, planning to protect Link with every inch of strength in her body. "GET AWAY YOU NASTY MUTT! BAD DOGGY! BAD!"

Keeping her eye on the Wolfos proved difficult as it traversed the ground erratically, jumping side to side, even occasionally disappearing only to pop out elsewhere. The creature wasn't doing all of that for no reason either, it was using its skills to hunt them down. Considering the dried blood splattered on its fur, this certainly wasn't its first time doing any of this. It was dying for a chance to try two Hylians as a tasty appetizer in advance of having a delicious horse as its entree.

"LINK! WAKE UP, PLEASE!" Though she knew he wouldn't, Malon figured it was worth a try. Shivering in fear, she prayed for help from divinity as the beast closed in with a loud growl, readying itself to make a kill by beginning to open its mouth. Never had the young hylian girl encountered a Wolfos before; taking that into consideration, she was mortified when it came close enough that it leaned up on its hind legs, now taking on the form of a werewolf-like creature. Somehow it was able to continue running almost as fast on two legs as it could on four. Malon screamed at the sight, fearing she was about to get snatched up by the monster. "GO AWAY!"

Before the Wolfos could attack, Epona swerved around a tree to try and lose it. Unfortunately, the evasive maneuver did little more than slow the monster down as it resumed running on all fours in order to catch up to them. The snarls and growls it let out made the hair on the back of Malon's neck stick up. 'Farore, please protect me from this beast!' Lingering behind, it showed off with a jumping maneuver that allowed it to bounce off of a nearby tree in order to land closer to them, close enough to hear its jaws snap as it strained to try and bite Epona's tail.

When it tried the same attack, it received a swift kick in the face from Epona. A shrill yelp could be heard as it slowed down a tiny bit, only to roar at them in anger.

"HELP!" Malon continued to scream, all the while desperately hoping that the Kokiri Village would come into sight extraordinarily soon. "SOMEBODY, HELP! FOR THE LOVE OF THE GOLDEN GODDESSES, HELP!" In her imagination, a metaphorical angel of death loomed above her in response to the imminent peril. In reality it wasn't a philosophical grim reaper, rather it was the Wolfos which ran up to her side with its eyes directly on her, no longer with its focus on Epona. During the moments their vision stayed connected, Malon could see the primal hatred it held for her, fueled mindlessly by the instinctual urge to eat and devour to keep itself alive. All courage within her faded into a numbness as she felt more like everything was a dream, surreal and nearly unbelievable. Around her, time seemed to slow down as the beast slowly raised itself onto its hind legs, reeling back its clawed paw in preparation to slice the Hylian's head off.

Everything the farm girl had ever experienced prior to now flashed before her eyes, leaving her to utterly zone out until Link's unconscious movement brought out a hasty, last moment decision to raise the shield and cower behind it instead of accepting death. Once the beast made its move, it lunged at Malon with a heavy swipe of its paw. The contact made between its claws and the shield clanked loudly, sounding as if two swords struck together at high velocity. Though it failed to get to her, the force alone was almost enough to push the red head off Epona. "Oomph! Jeez, now I know why Link loves shields!" Epona squealed as it tried to get her, only for Malon to smash it in the head multiple times with the edge of the shield. "NO!" She hollered loudly as she proceeded with an attack of her own. "NO-NO-NO-NO!" Eventually it whimpered and backed off again. Although it was crystal clear that it wasn't going to give up its meal, Malon wasn't going to give up on her rescue mission either.

Never in her life had Malon killed something before, not even a chicken. All beheading at the ranch was done by Talon or Ingo and she never had the stomach to stick around to watch. However, as this instance was a matter of life and death, as she clutched Link's sword she knew in her heart that if she had to, she wouldn't hesitate to stab the Wolfos as much as possible until it ceased breathing.

"GO AWAY!" She screamed. Similar to before, the beast ran on all fours until it managed to catch up to them, this time approaching Malon's right side instead of left. She held onto the reins with one hand while readying the sword with her other. This was going to be it, the time she would have to protect herself, killing something to accomplish that.

Due to the Wolfos close proximity, when it opened its mouth, Malon could see the row of razor sharp teeth lined up in perfect unison. As she raised the sword in preparation for an attack, she stared directly at its extra-large fangs while its putrid breath wafted up her nostrils, subconsciously making her gag. "TAKE THIS!" Using as much strength as she could muster, Malon thrusted the sword downward on top of the Wolfos' snout, slicing it deep enough for it to holler in pain. Right away, the monster fell back to recuperate. "YEAH! AND, DON'T COME BACK!"

Blood dripped from its nose down into its mouth as it continued to chase them with even more motivation to kill. It wasn't going to give up. To Malon's misfortune, it looked like she might have underestimated its intelligence as well, as it unleashed a piercing howl that echoed through the woods louder than her own screaming did. It was calling more Wolfos for help. That wasn't good for the group either. If more came, the farm girl would definitely be outnumbered and outmatched, allowing the monsters to easily take the group down.

"Oh no! I'm so screwed!" Way out in the mist, beyond the range of sight, Malon could hear another howl responding to the first. At least one other Wolfos was on the way. "Where is that village!? How much longer do we have to go until we're there!?"

Epona snorted, then huffed while desperately attempting to escape. At some point, the chase would end whether they wanted it to or not, as the horse couldn't keep up with this galloping for much longer before reaching sheer collapse from massive fatigue. In fact, since she was still a filly, it was a surprise she was able to get this far after all the trauma she'd only recently been through.

The Wolfos from before was still hot on their trail, chomping its teeth every now and then as it came close enough to try and take a bite out of one of them. Ultimately, after giving up on Epona, it repeated the exact same steps as previously. Running up beside Epona, it had Malon as its next envisioned target. For a second time, the farm girl raised the sword with full intent to use it to defend herself and Link. Watching it rise up on its hind legs into that werewolf-like form was intimidating; Malon could only pretend to not be persuaded, even though the beast likely sensed her prodigious dread regardless. When it tried to strike her with a swipe of its gnarly claws, she lifted the shield, successfully blocking its attack.

Although she protected herself, to her dismay, she failed to fully guard Link, as the monster's claws slid across the shield surface before scraping his right shoulder, ripping straight through the fabric of his tunic with no effort whatsoever. "AAAAHHHHHHHH! AHH!"

In spite of his violent reaction, he didn't wake up. Malon's heart sank in her chest regardless when she heard him yell in pain. When she looked back, she saw four scratches had been ripped into his skin, allowing more of his blood to ooze out and soak into his dirty tunic. "YOU BASTARD!" She shouted, cursing it with foul language.

Plunging the sword forward, Malon was left with no excuse other than to get it over with, wanting to kill the monstrous beast to keep themselves alive. This time, due to her unhoned skill in using a sword, she missed and it jumped back far enough to evade, making the farm girl scream out again. "GHAA! I HATE YOU!" Worsening her problems tenfold, a howl from the left of her signified that another Wolfos from nearby had indeed responded to the earlier call for assistance. "DAMMIT!" Immediately after the second Wolfos appeared, Malon panicked further and lost control of the situation. Concerned for Link and herself, it was devastating to her morale for the imminent threat to be closing in on them, leaving her with nothing to do other than burst out in tears while yelling for help one more time. "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP US!"

"YAA! YAA!" Out of nowhere, multiple boys' voices hollered before a blinding flash erupted on impact beside Malon as well as and in front of the first Wolfos. Instantly, the first Wolfos yelped and spun around as more of the same objects were thrown at it by the hidden individuals. "YAA! YAA! GET OUT OF HERE! YAA!" The Wolfos tucked its tail between its legs and yelped again when more objects snapped near and even on it. Though it tried to come back for another round of attacks, one well-placed shot in the forehead nearly made it black out, wounding it faster than it could think, thus signifying its defeat as it retreated back into the woods with the other Wolfos quickly following suit.

"YAA! YAA!" Above Malon, in the trees, were revealed to be three Kokiri boys with typical apparel of their tribe, locks of orange hair covering their eyes and a slight overbite. They didn't ease up on the Wolfos one bit, even as the beasts continued to run away as fast as possible. The boys jumped across trees and even followed on the ground, still repeatedly throwing the objects that were exploding.

Before long, Malon could only faintly hear the life saving Kokiri or the retreating Wolfos' whimpering. Just like that, she was alone again, left trying to figure out exactly what had just happened. Epona, on the other hand, didn't care in the least as she wasn't going to slow down for anything. "Thank the Goddesses! Praise them!" Seeing how the boys that rescued her were definitely Kokiri, Malon knew that she had to be close to the village. "It's going to be okay, Link! We're saved!"

Up ahead, the farm girl saw the same green-haired girl from earlier, the one who stood next to the exit of the Lost Woods and warned her not to come into this portion of the woods without a fairy. The look of concern on her face proved that she was friendly and that Malon would be able to get some help from the girl. "Whoa, Epona! Whoa!"

The filly slid to a halt while huffing in exhaustion, unable to go much further anyway, unless she wanted to keel over dead.

As soon as the green-haired girl's eyes landed on Link, she gasped in horror in advance of becoming extremely upset. "Link; by the Great Deku Tree! What in the world happened!?"

Without Link able to respond, Malon decided to speak for him. "He's turning! Please, you have to help him!"

The green-haired girl's eyes were already welling up with tears as her fairy zoomed around Link, examining his condition. "He… He… HE'S WHAT!?"

Confusion set in, therefore, Malon tried to explain a little more despite her urgent need to get out of there. "I found him miles away in a small meadow where a Skull Kid had him! He's been unconscious and delusional for three days! I… I don't fully understand the working of this accursed forest, but please! Please! You have to help him! He doesn't have a fairy either and now he's turning!"

The Kokiri girl's blue eyes widened further as tears flowed down her cheeks. "This way, hurry!"

The green-haired girl ran toward the exit of the woods while Malon made Epona move just a bit further, coaxing her into listening with a tender voice and petting. "Okay, Epona… Let's get to the village and then you can rest up, eat and drink all you want." With a neigh, the horse started following the green-haired girl out of the woods at a trot.

Another Kokiri boy, with red hair, blue eyes, freckles and wide puffy cheekbones stood waiting for the girl. When they met, she immediately began talking to him. "Mido, Link's hurt badly! I'm taking him to my house! Wake up the village!"

The boy nodded in understanding. "Got it!" In advance of jumping down the plateau, he glanced back over his shoulder with concern as Malon followed the Kokiri girl down the winding path.

As soon as those wooden houses of the village came into sight, it felt like a massive cooling wave of relief washed over Malon's entire body. Going through that whole ordeal with the Wolfos made her want to cherish the feeling of safety more than ever before. 'I'm never coming into this forest again after doing all of this… My heart is still beating out of my chest.'

Link moaned and Malon as well as the Kokiri girl both looked back at him to make sure he was okay. "Did the Skull Kid do this to him!?" The green-haired girl asked.

"No… He said that he found him like this and then rescued him from the elements." Malon answered.

The girl sighed with relief, but still appeared on edge. Considering everything that's happening, Malon didn't blame her for freaking out, especially if she somehow had a connection with Link that the farm girl wasn't aware of. From Malon's point of view, the green-haired girl definitely knew him. "What about the scratches on his shoulder!?" She kept questioning.

Malon sniffled as they followed the path into the village. "Those were done by the Wolfos that attacked us. They're fresh wounds… But, he was unconscious when I found him, sitting in a puddle of blood that was dripping from his nose."

Upon hearing that, the Kokiri girl had to hold back more tears, with her chest heaving in heavy emotional pain. Her eyes were drawn to him as if she couldn't restrain herself from staring at his miserable condition. "Did anyone do this to him!?" For a couple of seconds, she became upset again, and her fairy had to land on her shoulder to comfort her by any means.

Malon likely would have been just as disturbed if she weren't in shock from the terror of the Lost Woods. "I don't know." The farm girl told her.

A handful of other Kokiri appeared out in front of their houses, while the same red-haired boy, known as Mido, continued to go door-to-door awakening them or bringing the matter to their attention.

"What do you mean you don't know!?" The Kokiri girl cried at her.

Tension was high as both of their nerves were strung to the breaking point. However, Malon felt like she shouldn't be getting yelled at after everything she just went through to rescue Link. "I don't know, that's what I mean! I told you, I found him in a meadow!" The Kokiri girl didn't seem to like that answer, but continued to lead the way to her house. 'Once we get Link stabilized and in bed, I'll inform her of everything that's happened thus far; the struggle of life and death I was forced to deal with.' Malon thought of the best way to approach the subject.

The village itself was relatively simple in layout, yet immensely complex for children of the forest to construct as a self-sustaining community. It had bridges connecting the higher treehouses to each other, a small stream-made waterfall for freshwater, patches of land used for cultivation and even a shop.

"This is my house here." The Kokiri girl stated.

They came to a stop in front of a round house made from the stump of a giant tree. On the outside was a spiraling staircase carved onto the trunk, which was attached to a pillar near the stream. For a house owned by a ten year old, Malon had to say that she's done well for herself here. 'Honestly, in comparison, I still live with my Dad.'

"You can hitch your horse here and Fifi, the second twin, will tend to her while we take care of Link…" The girl said prior to yelling for the other Kokiri. "FIFI!"

A girl Kokiri with light blue eyes, curled back red hair tucked into a green headband, and a green tunic with brown shin-high work boots quickly moved outside from her house and to the left of the group, over to Epona. The new Kokiri girl gently stroked the huffing filly's head while giving her an apple. "On it!"

With Epona resting and at a stop, Malon was safe to dismount, but first she had to untie her scarf holding Link's hands to her stomach.

"What happened?" The Kokiri boy known as Mido asked after returning from alerting the entire village. He stared at Link all of the while.

In the meantime, Malon released the scarf to set Link free, followed by dismounting Epona.

"I'm not really sure yet…" The green-haired girl replied while she and Malon both helped Link down from the saddle as gently as they conceivably could.

"Come over here and help." Malon said to Mido. Link moaned in pain as the farm girl tried not to mush his injured shoulder too much. In response to his body being lifted, the wound continued to ooze blood.

The Kokiri boy grabbed Link's feet as the green-haired girl and Malon held him up by his underarms and carried him into the house. They passed through a sheet, which hung down to form the door. On the inside, the house was lit with candles, allowing them to see and directly carry Link to the left side of the room, over to a small bed made from a hollowed out log. Other than that, in the part of the room farthest from the entrance, there was a wooden dining table with fresh fruit and vegetables in a bowl, as well as stumps serving as the stools. Another longer wooden table with personal assorted items of various shapes and sizes were on the right side, followed by a series of shelves spanning the rest of the length of the house. Two giant clay pots filled with who knows what sat next to several farming instruments. A pretty, hand-made woven rug filled the middle of the room, and a bamboo mat was under the dining table.

"Oh, Link!" The green-haired girl said while tenderly laying his head on the hand-knitted pillow on her bed. Now that they were in enough light to see, the full extent of his condition was completely revealed. It was shocking to say the least, as even Malon didn't know that he was this bad. "W-What happened to you!?" His skin was bluish in colour as well as slightly swollen, becoming bloated in certain areas for a reason that none of them understood. The blood that had dried on his upper-lip was still present, but this was dwarfed by the four cuts where the Wolfos' claws ripped into his shoulder. Further up, on the opposite side of his forehead, a nasty gash looked more like a lacerated knot now. On top of all of this, he was barely breathing and utterly unconscious. "My baby boy!"

Hearing the green-haired girl say that as she broke down into more tears confused Malon a little. 'What exactly is her relationship with Link?' She thought. She even wanted to ask. However, there were much more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

"Saria, he'll be okay…" The Mido kid spoke while hugging the green-haired girl as she continued to sob over Link. "We just need to figure out what happened to him."

Malon finally figured out the girl's name was Saria. She also realized that the Kokiri's level of upset was going to make this situation more difficult if she couldn't calm down. "Umm… Saria, is it?" The farm girl asked before stating facts. "Uhh… Look, we have to chill out and focus. Freaking out isn't going to do anything to get him healthy again."

Saria sniffled in addition to wiping her teary eyes. "C-Chill out?" She asked, never before having heard the term.

Although Malon wanted to roll her eyes at Saria's inability to understand slang, a trait the Kokiri girl obviously shared with Link, she simply nodded while looking around the room for things to use. "Yeah, it means to take it easy… Now, do we have anything to deal with this blood?"

Once Saria got herself under control, she regained her composure and began walking over to the long table on the right side of the room. Upon closer inspection, there was sewing equipment strewn about as well as multiple pieces of fabric, some of which were even yet to be dyed green. A particular square piece looked perfect for the task,the one chosen by the green-haired Kokiri girl. "Mido, would you go find and pick three Aloe Vera leaves? Maybe see if there's a red potion in the Know-It-All Brothers' house too."

"You got it." Mido agreed without hesitation and then departed in search of the requested items.

Saria returned to the left side of the room with the rag. For a moment she turned around, only to pick up a bucket of water that was next to the farming equipment. "This is freshwater, but we don't have any warm water right now. I'll have to boil some if we need it."

Clearly, water purified from a boil would be the most sterile, yet, at the moment they just needed to use anything that they could to help Link. It was also best they did it as quickly as possible to prevent anything permanent from happening.

"That's okay… Let's do something about the wound on his shoulder first." Malon accepted what was most convenient for a moment.

Proceeding with a swift dunk in water, Saria brought the rag to Link's shoulder, holding it to the cuts in an attempt to soak up some of the blood leaking out of it. His reaction scared them as he abruptly jerked his arm up and hissed in pain, which was odd since it was just water. Either way, Malon held his arm down as Saria continued to dab his shoulder with fresh water.

"My baby boy," Saria softly crooned with a quivering lip as well as tears in her eyes. She tenderly stroked his blonde hair back. "It's okay, you're with me now and nobody is going to hurt you."

Despite Malon's attempts to resist, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. 'Baby boy? Don't tell me these two have a relationship.'

Link eventually relaxed enough where he was merely moaning in a very soft manner. Saria continued to hold the rag to his shoulder until it was too bloody to use anymore, needing to be rung out and re-dunked in more fresh water; to which Malon immediately volunteered to do. "He's so cold." Saria spoke while feeling his forehead during the time it took Malon to clean the rag. The homemade blankets looked relatively thick to her, so the farm prayed it would help him warm up quickly. Saria pulled them up to his neck. "If he doesn't warm up soon he'll need our body heat to raise his temperature."

Although it sounded embarrassing, Malon agreed since it was the truth. She knew that now wasn't the time to be shy. Now that his shoulder was tended to, that serious gash on his head was likely the next thing that needed to be taken care of. Being on his head, Malon had been concerned that he might have a brain injury. If he was struck, or hit it too hard, that would reasonably explain why he's been talking nonsense. Then again, she remembered that the Skull Kid, Timi, said it was delusions caused by whatever wicked curse it was residing in the Lost Woods.

"What happened to his head?" Saria questioned while delicately touching around it to see what his reaction would be.

"I don't know… The Skull Kid said that it was from him falling off Epona, the horse outside." Malon placed the damp rag over his forehead, covering the wound.

Saria sniffled while caressing his cheek in a very intimate way, making Malon look away with a bit of shame for feeling jealous about the whole ordeal. Link's breathing was shallow; however, he was still taking breaths, which meant that he was alive.

"This Skull Kid…" Saria asked "Did… Did he or she have a name?"

The scenario was a bit too strange for Malon to fully comprehend. On one hand, the farm girl felt like she should tell Saria of The Skull Kid because it might help Link. She realized it was entirely possible that Timi had been lying the whole time and might actually have been the one who truly did this to Link. Then again, at the same time, considering how the forest imp helped her through the woods, it was likely he was telling the truth, in which case she felt she should protect him due to moral reasons. Regardless of which, she soon chose the first option, as Link was more important to her than anyone else. "His name was Timi."

There was a noticeable change in Saria's posture as she relaxed. Judging by that, Malon took it as a good thing and not a bad one. "That's good… Timi's about the best of the bunch. He was never mean to anybody, just a jokester." After that, the green-haired Kokiri girl kept tending to Link, holding his hand while caressing his forehead.

Malon resumed dabbing the gash on Link's head with the moist rag. 'Is she his girlfriend?' She wondered in advance of unsuccessfully trying to push the thought from her mind. "Can I ask you something?" Her lips abruptly moved on their own, proving she couldn't stop thinking about the matter. 'There's nothing wrong with them being together, if it's true.' The farm girl quickly thought, trying to reconcile with the likelihood. 'They would make a cute couple, and she definitely has genuine feelings for him that are evidently far more intense than my own.' Clearing her throat, she managed to ask aloud "Y-You and Link… Are you…. *Ahem*… Are you, like, his gir-…"

Before Malon could finish, her words were interrupted as Mido returned with a few things piled in his arms. "I'm back!"

As Malon blushed from choking down the rest of her question, Saria jumped up from the bed and dashed to the orange haired kokiri boy. "Thank goodness! Did you find any red potions in the Know-It-All Brothers' house!?"

Mido walked over to the table on the right and put all the items down on it, allowing the girls to see what he had brought. From there, they saw he found the red potion, a few leaves of Aloe Vera, better fabric that could be used as a bandage as well as a round puffy ball resembling a spore of some sort. "Yes. The brothers are on their way here too… Those Wolfos are long gone, they chased them away with Deku Nuts."

Hearing that was a huge relief for Malon, as she felt safer knowing that she'd never have to see those beasts again for as long as she lived.

Saria grabbed the bottle of red potion as well as the Aloe Vera leaves and bandage-cloth in advance of darting back over to Link. First, to make sure that the wound on his shoulder was disinfected, after squeezing goopy green gel out of the end of the Aloe Vera leaf, she lathered it onto the injury. This time, instead of hissing in pain, Link simply groaned with slight discomfort. "Let's deal with these bloody cuts and then give him the potion. All we can do is pray to the goddesses that it will fix his ailments."

Considering that Malon was relying on the Kokiri to be able to inform her more on what exactly was going on, she was taken aback when she realized that she still didn't know what was happening to the blonde hero. "Wait a second, Saria. Do you know what's wrong with him? The Skull Kid said that he was turning."

Saria cringed at the word used, not liking it in the least. However, she kept making sure that Link's shoulder was completely lathered with the Aloe Vera before tightly wrapping the bandage-cloth around it. "I have a pretty good clue… But, first, I have to question where Navi, his fairy, is."

Malon merely shrugged as she had no further clue than Saria herself had. The last the farm girl had seen Navi, she was faithfully hovering around Link, fluttering her wings while making tinkling sounds or cute, tiny giggles. "I don't know… Timi said that there wasn't a fairy with him when he was found."

Mido narrowed his eyes at that, prior to responding. "What? That's not right… Fairies never leave us Kokiri; they're like our parent-guardians."

Thinking of Navi as Link's mother was almost too odd for Malon to comprehend. Nonetheless, there was one thing that Mido didn't take into account. Malon looked at them both and said "Yeah, but… Link's not a Kokiri."

Suddenly, the red-headed Hylian was taken aback when Saria jerked her head around with a furious look as well as the evil eye directed straight at Malon. "That has nothing to do with Navi disappearing!"

Malon held her hands up in an innocent defensive-like manner, showing that she meant no offense. Although she wasn't exactly sure why something like that would upset Saria so much, she continued with what she was trying to say. "I'm just saying, maybe since he's a Hylian, she didn't have to stay with him for as long as you Kokiri?"

Yet again, Saria didn't like what was being said very much at all, finding it somehow facetious instead of informational. "That still has nothing to do with anything!"

Malon's chest heaved as she sighed in annoyance, shouting back "It does too! He went into the Lost Woods without his fairy! You know exactly what happens to Hylians that come into this Forbidden Forest and lose their way!" Even though they were yelling, they kept working as a team while tending to Link. Malon lifted the rag away from the gash on his forehead and Saria lathered it with more of the gooey Aloe Vera.

"You're wrong…... W-We… We don't fully know, only the Great Deku Tree was aware of the exact process that your kind goes through…" Saria admitted.

Malon's jaw dropped in disbelief before she had to shake her head to make sure she was really awake. 'These people were my main hope for curing Link, and now they're telling me that they don't know what's going on?' Her teeth grit in anger as she continued with thinking 'What am I going to do now?'

"Most of the Kokiri were only told that 'bad things' happen when non-Kokiri folk enter the woods…" Saria proceeded to divulge what she knew. "Only a select few know the true end result when you don't listen to the Great Deku Tree's warning." This seemed to hold true, as Mido scratched the back of his head in confusion, clearly unaware himself.

After thinking about it for a while, Malon stood up with full intent of getting to the bottom of this. Nothing was going to stop her from getting Link healthy again.

"Where are you going?" Saria asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"To see the Great Deku Tree and ask him about the cure for this." The farm girl replied.

Mido followed after Malon while Saria proceeded to stay with Link, refusing to budge from his side for even a second. "I'm afraid that's not going to be possible." The freckle-faced kokiri boy stated.

As Mido reached out to grab Malon, she swatted his hand away before turning around to face him with a scowl. "And just WHAT are YOU going to do to stop me!?"

He cringed a bit as if he thought the Hylian girl was going to smack him upside his head, and then stuttered a reply "N-Nothing! It's just… The Great Deku Tree passed away several months ago."

All that Malon could do was bite her lip and clench her hands together, angrily shaking with her eyes closed in utter exasperation. 'Curse my luck for being so hapless.' She thought. To her, it seemed like there were so many hindrances that every time she took a step forward, she had to take three steps back. There wasn't anything she could do though other than let all of her anger out in one short burst. "DAMMIT!"

Mido took his hat off with a sigh. He could tell the farm girl was struggling with everything. "I'm sorry, Malon… The Deku Tree Sprout isn't ready yet either. It may take many years before he's grown enough to break out of his seed."

Saria uncorked the bottle containing the red potion before interrupting them. "Hey! We have to do this ourselves, without the Great Deku Tree's help…... Now, please... let's try to give Link this potion to see if it'll help make him better. I'm tired of waiting around looking at him in this condition." Since Malon was done exploding to get out all of her frustration, she started going towards the left side of the room, until Saria stopped her. "We won't be able to give this to him unless he's awake. Could you get the Hartshorn Spore from off the table?"

Even though Malon had no clue what a Hartshorn Spore was, she did her best to comply. The Kokiri were well-known for being herbalists. Considering Hylian modern medicine was infused with chemicals, she knew that herbs were much safer than anything the doctor in Castle Town would give him. Walking a few feet across the room, she picked up the spore and then returned to Saria as the aroma emanating from it tickled her nose severely, even making her eyes water. "What will this do?"

Saria took the spore from Malon and then shook it. "It'll make him wake up, so long as there's not something wrong with his head."

A lump formed in Malon's throat as she gulped in agitation over whether or not it'll work and he'll wake up. It had been a while since heds said anything, so she could only hope he was still alright.

"The smell should be enough to bother him." Saria informed the farm girl as Malon and Mido stood in watch while she took a single deep breath prior to holding the spore beneath Link's nose. Nothing happened right away until they noticed his nose wrinkle and upper-lip twitch about ten seconds in. Briefly after that, he turned his head away to the side while remaining unconscious. Just that small movement made them exhale with a small amount of relief, as they were lucky that he was responsive at all.

"Try it again, one more time." Malon insisted

This time, Malon assisted the green-haired Kokiri by gently turning Link's head toward them, then holding him still. She found that Saria was right about the hero being cold. His skin almost felt lifeless, as if he was turning into stone or ice. "Okay… Now, hold it up."

Saria held the spore directly underneath his nose again and Link moaned in response. "Keep holding him, I think he's coming around!"

Soon, he tried to turn his head again, but Malon wouldn't let him. Even though she would never force him to do something like this, it was for his own good; the situation called for extraordinary measures. Thankfully, it also appeared to be worth it as he huffed a few times before sneezing all over Saria's hand as well as the spore. Even though what followed was merely mumbled incomprehensible nonsense, it was better than nothing.

"Eww…" Saria said as her hand dripped with what he sneezed out. "That's gross." She didn't stop though, as she held the spore back up yet again. "Come on, Link, wake up… Wake up!"

His eyes moved beneath his eyelids before his arm moved under the sheet. Out of nowhere, he softly wrapped his hand around Malon's wrist. At first, she wasn't sure what he was doing. Nonetheless, that concern flew out the door once she saw him open his eyes. "Link!" Saria and Malon both shout in unison, embarrassing the farm girl a bit. His eyes were red and still glossy, like they were glazed over, same as in that delusional state he was earlier. After coughing roughly, he looked like he was getting ready to say something.

Malon felt like she'd finally accomplished her task in finding him help and that he would now, at long last, be able to get better; that was, until he said what he did. "R-Romani… *Cough*… I told you to get out of here. There's not much time before the moon falls."

His gaze was directly on Malon, so Saria stared at her in question. To her dismay, Malon still didn't know who Romani was or why he kept mistaking her for this person. He knew who she was, so it didn't make sense.

"I thought your name was Malon?" Mido asked.

"It is… He's hallucinating." Malon cleared the air. "He keeps talking about a 'Majora's Mask' as well as something about the 'moon falling'… For some reason, he keeps thinking I'm a girl called 'Romani'."

Saria's eyes welled up with tears as she cupped her hand over her mouth and quickly looked away. Mido frowned and tried to cheer her up by hugging her, but she gently pushed him away. Following a few sobs, she turned back to Link. "I'm okay… I'm okay, let's just try and give him this red potion and see if it helps him regain some sanity."

Malon wasn't really sure of what had just happened. She only knew that they needed to focus on the task at hand.

Link was still rambling nonsense and they had to figure out how to get him to drink the potion. "Nnn… Your f-friends... What kind of... p-people are they?... I wonder... Do these p…people... think of you... a-as a friend?" The unconscious hero grumbled.

Saria sniffled, mixed the potion with a tiny shaved wooden stick, then said. "Link… Sweetie, I need you to open wide so we can give you a red potion." Surprisingly, although he didn't open his mouth, he turned his head and narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to stare at her. Her chest heaved some in response to his gaze, yet she didn't stop talking. "It'll make you feel a lot better."

Link cleared his throat prior to trying to take a deep breath, or perhaps sigh. "I-It's the Happy M…Mask Salesman's f-fault… *Coughs*… It's in his h-heart, in his heart which Majora grew into e-… existence… *Coughs*."

Saria and Mido may not have known who the Happy Mask Salesman was, but Malon did. She knew that he was known as the owner of the Happy Mask Shop, a bizarre store that sold masks through an eccentric process of loaning them to 'Happiness Salesmen', the middle men, who then completed the transaction with a customer and returned with the profit, keeping a fourth of it as payment. What those people or the Happy Mask Salesman's heart had to do with this 'Majora' being was completely unknown to any of them. Either way, it was obvious that Link wasn't able to voluntarily take the red potion and that they'd have to figure out how to give it to him by force.

"Somebody's going to have to hold his mouth open." Mido stated.

Saria blinked a few times while nervously chewing on her lower lip. "I'm just afraid that he's going to choke."

It might have seemed rude. Nonetheless, they didn't have much of a choice, so Malon shrugged. "We're going to have to take that chance. He's not looking good… He can barely keep his eyes open and he's as cold as ice!" Both things were true, they could already tell that he was about to lose consciousness again as he began to fail the struggle with holding open his weary eyelids.

"Alright, Alright… You hold his mouth open and I'll pour the potion in." Saria responded to the situation.

Now that she put the task on Malon, the farm girl was slightly unsure of how to do it. Mido held the brim of his hat with both hands as he anxiously watched her crawl up on the bedside until she was quite literally straddling Link. As humiliatingly awkward as it was, she held back cherry coloured cheeks by focusing on tenderly prying Link's mouth open, plus tilting his head back. He didn't particularly enjoy her doing it, so she made sure Saria hurried. "Okay… Now!"

Link tried to say something unintelligible before Saria tipped the bottle back and they watched the red potion pour into his mouth. The moment it touched his tongue he tried to pull away, but Malon refused to let go of him, holding his mouth open as the liquid flowed into and dripped down his throat.

Mere seconds in, he coughed as he started to show signs of choking. Needless to say, Saria freaked out in a heartbeat. "He's choking! Quick, rub his throat, Malon!" He hacked up a small spray of the red potion, which landed right on the farm girl's face while he proceeded to keep roughly coughing.

Malon's hands moved automatically as she listened to what Saria said. As she rubbed his throat, she could feel him swallow some of the potion. "What is this supposed to do!?" After he swallowed what he had in his mouth, she watched as he slowly stopped coughing and took a deep breath.

"It'll make him swallow." She pointed out.

Malon's nerves relaxed some as Link licked his lips and ceased choking.

"That was…" Mido spoke "Not exactly what I was hoping for."

Both Saria and Malon turned around to face the orange-haired Kokiri boy, once again replying in unison. "Shut up!"

He held his hands up to show he meant no offense.

Saria and Malon looked away from each other in discomfiture of their similarities. Now that they knew how to do this, they figured they should be able to get him to finish the rest of the red potion. There were still three quarters of it remaining, and most recipes of these types of potions require half of the bottle to take any noticeable effect. "Let's try this again."

Saria stopped Malon from prying his mouth open again when she saw that Link had lost consciousness again. "Wait… He's asleep. We need to wake him up once more."

Mido stepped in this time and offered some useful assistance by picking up the Hartshorn Spore,

holding it to Link's nose.

Within a few seconds, since he was just recently awake, the hero stirred and then opened his eyes . His hand remained wrapped around Malon's wrist. "Nnn… *Groans*… Y-Your true face... What kind of... face i-is it? I wonder... The f-face under the mask... Is… Is that... your t-true face?"

Malon soon stopped him from speaking by holding his mouth open with her left hand. Saria did the same thing as last time by pouring the red potion onto his tongue while, this time, the farm girl rubbed his throat to make him swallow as much of it as he could.

"It's working!" Mido exclaimed, just as glad as the others that it might help Link recover from his sickness. This time around, their efforts proved to be a complete success as he didn't even cough. Saria and Malon knew that it had to make him feel better at some point; they assumed that it probably just took some time.

"We did it!" Saria exhaled in relief.

Malon let go of Link's mouth and rejoiced with them by hugging him tightly. The entire time that he'd been with her, she wanted to embrace him and hold him close to her. Ceaselessly, she was fearful that she'd lose him and he'd slip away from Hyrule to join the realm of the Goddesses. "Oh, Link… I'm so glad I got you here." Tears flowed down the young Hylian girl's cheeks, soaking into his tunic as she lightly sobbed on his chest.

Saria tenderly stroked his blonde hair back before placing an almost mother-like kiss on his forehead. It confused Malon again as the farm girl had to wonder what their relationship was, however, they were still far too overjoyed to care. "My sweet baby boy." Saria said with a smile as his eyes slowly moved back and forth between her and Malon. "You're going to be okay"

His teeth chattered as if he was cold, therefore when Malon checked his temperature, she noticed he still wasn't warming up much. "Uhh… He's still really cold." Saria ignored everything for a moment and just continued to stroke his hair back with a blank look on her face. "Did you hear me? Saria?" Malon stated once more. "He's really cold."

Hearing Malon repeating herself caught Saria's attention and she agreed after feeling his forehead again. "Yeah, he is. You're right."

Malon had the idea to use her body heat. She felt like he should be doing better than he was by now. His core temperature should have risen and stabilized as he was in a far better environment than when trying to generate his own. Her notion led her to bring up the subject. "How about we use our body heat to warm him up?

Saria acknowledged the suggestion straight away. "Mido, how about you get the fireplace lit; I don't care if we sweat because it's too warm."

Mido didn't hesitate one bit as he immediately walked over to a tiny fire pit that was only big enough to hold three logs. Next, following the time it took to select which logs he wanted to use, he put them in the fire pit and lit it by using flint and steel in only one solid strike, as if he'd done it thousands of times before.

"It's probably going to take a while for that flame to heat up the room." Saria spoke, thinking along the same lines as Malon. "We need to warm him up using our body heat… And, don't be embarrassed, this is for his beneficial health as well as his safety."

When she said that, she was staring directly at Malon, so the farm had difficulty holding herself back from having flushed cheeks. Malon knew it wasn't strange and that she shouldn't be embarrassed since it was going to save his life. She pulled the covers back as Link shivered near-violently, still chattering his teeth as if he was turning into an ice sickle. Considering the fact that she'd come this far, Malon knew well that she wasn't going to give up now or act like it was too much for her to do. After all, she was the one who suggested it to begin with. 'There's absolutely nothing lovey-dovey about this, Link needs us desperately.' She thought as Saria very delicately scooted him over a little.

Just as they were about to climb up onto the bed with him, the sheet-like door flew open and four of the boys that saved her and Link from the Wolfos came busting in looking distraught. Instantly, they all spoke in harmony with each other while swiftly shouting. "Stop! Get away from him! He's in stage three! He could turn into a Stalfos at any second! There isn't a single red potion on the planet that could change that!"