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.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

.
.

.

[Time: 10:22 P.M. (Night)]

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

[Location: Hyrule, Kokiri Forest - Saria's House]

.
"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!" After bursting into the room, the Know-It-All Brothers made a startling announcement, proving that Link was in much worse condition than they originally thought he was.

None of them had an immediate response to them. Malon herself was trapped in her head for a moment, trying to figure out why this was happening. It seemed like a red potion would be more than enough to fix whatever was happening as it had been the number one medicine for Hylians since the ancient days in the Era of the Goddess Hylia. To be told that everything was futile, it definitely dampened the farm girl's spirit.

"That's not true!" Saria shouted in retaliation, refusing to believe it.

Mido jumped back like he was suddenly scared of Link. "S-Saria, get away from him… We can't fight a… a Stalfos." The orange-haired Kokiri whimpered out.

Saria jerked her head back with a furious look and eyed down Mido before turning to argue with the three brothers. "He's not turning! He's going to be fine!" Once she bursted into tears, Mido as well as the three brothers, realized that she was in denial.

Malon, on the other hand, merely continued thinking about how this whole ordeal was probably all for nothing. 'If the Kokiri think it's too late to save him, then it probably is.' The way this day had been an obnoxious rollercoaster of emotions was beginning to make the farm girl sick to the very pit of her stomach.

"He's not! He's not! He's Not!" Saria said repeatedly, still trying to talk over the brothers even as she sobbed into her hands.

"He is, Saria…" One of the brothers said. "Without the Great Deku Tree, there's nothing that we can do for him."

Malon abruptly shook her head in disbelief prior to interrupting with questions of her own. "Wait a second… You guys are called the Know-It-All Brothers but, how are you so sure that he's in this 'stage three'?"

The brother on the far right was first to respond. He appeared confident in what he was saying, thus, Malon feared the worst for Link right off the bat. "You Hylians cannot go into the Lost Woods without a fairy; the repercussions are always dire due to the curse the Great Deku Tree placed on the woods many centuries ago."

Without trying to be overly rude, Malon motioned for them to skip ahead a little by waving her wrist in a circle a couple of times. "I know all of that… What I want to know is, how do you know he's in stage three, and what are these stages?"

Saria wept as they discussed things, before Mido pulled her over closer to the fire, attempting to comfort and console her to the best of his abilities.

"The first stage is delirium…" The brother responded. "The forest starts to mess with their heads and clouds their judgment to a dangerous level. The second stage is the inability to move; they fall down and stay in one place until they gradually slip into stage three." The two brothers on the left abruptly whispered something to each other and that made the one on the far right stop speaking so he could join in on the conversation.

In Malon's opinion, the Kokiri were definitely odd. Then again, she could only hope they were contemplating something important, perhaps a solution to their problems. "Hey! You didn't finish! What's stage three?" She soon asked, still curious for an answer.

The brother on the left picked up where the other brother left off by saying "Loss of consciousness, drop in core body temperature and shallow breathing."

When Malon glanced back at Link, her heart plummeted in her chest once she saw that his eyes were closed and that he had gone to sleep again. Just five minutes ago, she had the highest of hopes that the red potion would make him feel better or at least keep him conscious. "Oh, Link…" The Hylian girl murmured sullenly during the time the Know-It-All Brothers went back to quietly discussing things. Saria sniffled and continued to cry into her hands, still repeating herself over and over in an intensely emotional austerity that only a mother would have for someone. Inside of Malon, her feelings were going out of control and yet her mind was also focused on a solution. She knew they couldn't just sit here crying, whispering and doing nothing. She figured there was no possible way that they should give up, not until they had literally tried every single option available to them and then some.

'Think, Malon… Think…' She thought 'Hmm… If only we could do this on our own.' Seeing how they were desperate, the very first question that popped into Malon's mind instantly came out of her lips too. "Why do we even need the Great Deku Tree? What would he have done to break the curse?"

The brothers paid no attention to what the Hylian girl said. However, Saria spoke up as she wiped her teary eyes. "The Great Deku was not only our fatherly guardian, he was the protector of the forest as well… He could control it at will. Legend has it that he was even responsible for every tree, every bush, every flower and even every blade of grass in existence." After blowing her nose into a tissue handed to her by Mido, she resumed speaking. "He was our source of fruits and vegetables. We also used the herbs he gave us for creating potions, tonics, and other remedies… Without him, we can't get the ingredients to make the things we need to cure him."

Malon's eyes blinked a few times as she thought about everything Saria had just said. Although she fully understood, something else also came to her mind. "Wait a second. You knew this whole time that the red potion wasn't going to be enough!?" Mido stared at her angrily. She didn't care though. In fact, she stared right back with a fiercer look. 'How dare she leave out such important information.'

"I'm sorry, okay!?" Saria apologized with a quivering lip in addition to more weeping. "I knew that there was nothing we could do! We need Blood Berries from the Great Deku Tree's insides and we can't get them because he's dead! To top it off, all of the ones that were left in storage have been devoured by a goop of ChuChus that infested his remains!"

Malon's jaw hung open for a minute in advance of her closing it. She felt as if they were more screwed now than they were when the Wolfos were after them. If anything, she wanted to slap fate right in the face for constantly interfering, always making things far more exceedingly difficult than they had to be. "Damn those ChuChus!" The farm girl cursed while slamming her fist down on the bedside. "I should slit their bellies open and take those berries right back!" All of a sudden, the room grew deathly silent as Saria stopped crying and the brothers no longer whispered to each other. All of them stared directly at the farm girl. Initially, Malon feared she somehow offended them with her overly violent thoughts. After all, she was aware that the Kokiri were a race of peaceful forest children that probably don't even squash bugs.

"That's it!" Saria exclaimed in shocking delight. "Malon, you're a genius!"

Malon just stared at the green-haired Kokiri girl in confusion since she had no clue what Saria was talking about. "Huh? What do you mean?"

The Know-It-All Brothers agreed with Saria before responding to Malon with smiles on their faces. "Cantatis Mushrooms, Juniper berries, Wheat, Swamp Fungal Pod, Medicinales Moss and Red Chu Jelly combined are the Kokiri formula for making a Red Potion… We need the Blood Berries from the Great Deku Tree to make another tonic as well, one that will make his body retain his spirit." Malon was starting to understand where they were going with this now, but still needed the brothers to fully explain. "ChuChu take months to digest things they've eaten… So, if you can go inside of the Great Deku Tree and bring us back a Red ChuChu, we'll be able to remove any Blood Berries it's consumed as well as the Chu Jelly the thing naturally produces."

For the most part, it sounded like a solid plan. However, there was one thing that Malon was completely and utterly baffled by. "Wait, Wait, Wait… Why do I have to go inside of the Great Deku Tree!? I don't know how to defend myself! I don't know where to find the ChuChu either!"

The brothers shrugged. A few even scratched their heads. Saria responded for them this time as they didn't want to explain any further. "We can't desecrate the Great Deku Tree like that, I'm afraid that we just can't."

Malon's mind was dumbfounded that they chose her to do it. "I'm sorry, Saria. I'm not a warrior or a knight, I'm just a simple farm girl. There's no way that I can fight anything, much less capture it."

Saria sighed before Mido abruptly stood up to proudly say. "I'll go with you! If there are two of us, we can do it… Look, we'll even bring Deku Nuts along with Link's sword and shield. We'll be fine as long as we stick together."

Saria smiled at Mido while wiping under her nose with a tissue. "Mido, since when do you do stuff like this?"

During the time that Malon took to contemplate what she was going to do and how they were going to get the Blood Berries from the ChuChu, Mido said "I'm the Leader of the Kokiri! I'm not going to stand around here and let one of my friends die, even if that means that I have to do something I don't want to do." After putting his pointy green hat back on, he grabbed Link's sword in advance of handing the farm girl a pitchfork that had been recently used.

Even though Malon would have rather have been given the sword, she figured it wasn't worth the hassle of arguing over and simply took the pitchfork in her hands. Inside her head, she had to remind herself that this was all for Link and nothing more. If she had to kill a few things to cure him, then she was fine with it. After all, she was more than willing to kill those Wolfos when they were after her and Epona. "I won't let Link die either. Let's do this."

Before leaving, she gave Link a kiss on the cheek in front of Saria. She did it for two reasons; one, because the fiery Hylian felt like he needed a little compassion, and two, because she wanted to see what Saria's reaction would be, to help prove or disprove her speculation about the caring Kokiri and Link being 'more than friends'. "I promise you I'll be right back, Link… I won't leave your side, but I must do this for you to get better." When she looked up to grab Link's shield, Saria only had a soft smile on her face without any signs of jealousy in the least, thus leaving Malon unsure of her relationship. 'Perhaps they are just close friends, or maybe she's his sister.' She hadn't gotten the nerve to try asking, so it remained a mystery to her.

"Hurry…" One of the Know-It-All Brothers said, motioning for Mido and Malon to rush. "There's no time to waste. It might already be too late and we just don't know it yet… Our advice is, you need to move as quickly as you can."

Mido pulled the sheet-door open, waiting for Malon to walk outside, back out into the damp forest nighttime air. Outside, the Kokiri girl from earlier, Fifi, was busy taking care of Epona. The horse had rightfully been given fresh water, as well as some wheat to munch on while Fifi brushed the filly down with a giant bristle-like pinecone. With any luck, Epona would feel much better after getting plenty of well-deserved rest.

"Let's take the horse so we can hurry." Mido said.

"No…" Malon stopped him. "She's too tired. She'll just injure herself if she keeps moving anymore without time to recuperate." While he knew that they had to hurry, after watching Epona continue to huff from all of the galloping, he accepted her answer as she kept walking. Since the farm girl didn't know where to go, he led the way.

The village was smaller than Malon thought it would be, yet she also noticed how quaint as well as peaceful it was, especially at night. Many of the Kokiri had gone back inside of their tree-homes so it was quiet too. Up ahead, nonetheless, they could see a lone girl standing outside. "These ChuChu things aren't really that dangerous…" Mido abruptly said as they neared the house where the girl was standing out front. "Nothing compared to a Wolfos." Malon had never encountered A ChuChu before, so his statement left her still not knowing what to expect in terms of anything. Again, it was painstakingly clear that she wasn't a skilled fighter. However, she had to do what she had to do. "I have an empty bottle on me… Now, we just have to find a single Red ChuChu from inside the Great Deku Tree, stab it, take its jelly as well as the Blood Berries it ate, and then go back to Link and Saria."

There was a small stream blocking their path, but the Kokiri had constructed a wooden bridge, showing off more of the fine craftsmanship their kind was capable of.

"Mido…" The girl standing outside called. She had blue eyes like everyone else. On the other hand, she had blonde hair, with bangs that draped down to her eyebrows as well as two puffy ponytails, one behind each ear. "Is Link going to be okay?" The concern everyone there had for Link was amazing. Malon never knew that he was so popular, even if it was with Kokiri instead of his own kind. It was almost as if he had one giant family.

"He will be." Mido spoke.

The girl didn't like that answer much at all as she sighed in disappointment. "Then it's true… What the Great Deku Tree said about the one with heroic blood blessed by the goddesses?"

Mido jerked his head in her direction and the Kokiri girl looked away with a frown. Malon didn't understand what they were discussing. However, she could vaguely recall the Skull Kid, Timi, telling her something about Link being extremely important.

"Let's go, Malon." Mido said in advance of hurrying across the bridge at a brisker pace, not even bothering to respond to the girl. Malon followed behind him until they reached the other side of the village. There was another clearing in the trees, a path which led directly to the Great Deku Tree. "I'm sorry about Fado." The freckle-faced Kokiri apologized. "She has a slight… fascination… with the Lost Woods, as well as anything Stalfos related… There's something about the wind flowing through their bones that she obsesses about."

All that Malon could do was blink as it seemed like something exceedingly strange for one of the Kokiri, a generally peaceful race, to be interested in. In the long run, it wouldn't matter, as the farm girl was bound and determined to prevent Link from turning into a skeleton fueled with pure hatred for the living. "I see." Was all she could think to say.

Mido's lip twitched, just once, while they entered the clearing and walked down a narrow path. Their pace quickened some, and though their only source of light was from his fairy, he showed no signs of it making any difference to him. Living in this forest all his life, he knew the place like the back of his hand; unlike Malon, who barely travels outside the Ranch except for the few occasions where her family took the horses out into the field or going to Castle Town. He was calm while Malon's heartbeat hadn't slowed down in the least since she began all of this.

"We're almost there." Mido spoke. When they finished making their way down the path, they found that it opened into another much bigger meadow with a humongous tree in the center of it. Fireflies dimly lit the surrounding area, but only so much.

Regardless, Malon was stunned by the massiveness of the one and only thing that could possibly be the 'Great Deku Tree'. It was breathtaking. "Wow…" She whispered, causing Mido to smile with a proud look on his face.

"Yep… The Great Deku Tree is amazing, there's no doubt about that." Suddenly, his smile vanished in an instant prior to him correcting himself. "Err… He… uhh… He WAS amazing, still is in our hearts." His scowl warped into sadness, a frown representing the pain in his heart from losing what he, along with the other Kokiri, considered their father.

Malon was young when her mother died, four years old, much younger than what Mido and the others appear to be. It was devastating to her, as she could vividly recall crying for weeks on end, constantly asking her father when her mommy was coming home. In a sickly twisted kind of way, she found it brave that he wanted to go inside of this thing. Considering the circumstances, in Hylian terms, it would be like going inside of one of their dead parent's rotting corpses to pull out a maggot to use in a potion. 'Sheesh… That's disgusting, Malon.' She chastised herself.

The closer they came to the tree, the further surprised Malon was when she realized that it appeared to have a face, one resembling a wise old man. "What the-…? A face?"

Mido raised an eyebrow as they made their way toward the Great Deku Tree, heading straight for what seemed to be its mouth. "Of course, how else did you think he could talk and see us?"

Malon honestly didn't know what she was expecting. She was just a ten year old girl staring at the face of a deceased demigod-tree that was once the great guardian of the forest. Taking that into consideration, she was already far out of her comfort zone. "Uhh… Yeah… That's true. Anyway, where do we go inside?"

He pointed forward at the Great Deku Tree's mouth as they grew ever closer to it. "Through the mouth."

For just a brief moment, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration at how strange everything was outside of the normal life of a Hylian. "What about how far inside we're going to travel?"

Although he didn't appreciate her visual display of annoyance, he answered truthfully, without sugar-coating anything to make her feel better. "I don't have any clue… We might walk in and see them everywhere. The last time we checked though, they were clustering in gloops around the top."

Imagining herself climbing this behemoth of a tree wasn't a pleasant thought for Malon. There certainly wasn't any problem with her physically; doing all of the work around the Ranch that she does, it kept her in tip-top condition. Her only beef was that it's a humongous tree and she was already tired from the day's events. "Let's just hurry, that's all that we need to do while we focus on finding things for Link."

Ahead of them, as they soon approached the Great Deku Tree's mouth, they could see inside where it was utterly pitch-black, not even allowing them to see their hands in front of their faces. If he was planning on going in there with only the dim lighting of his fairy, Malon didn't understand how he expected them to locate a ChuChu and then capture it in complete darkness. "Breena, could you give us a little more light, please?" His fairy flew around him a few times before gradually brightening enough to where it was on par with a candle.

'Oh geez… Here we go again, back into the darkness.' Malon lamented.

For just a brief moment, Mido hesitated to walk past the entrance. It was for obvious reasons as, again, the farm girl thought about what she contemplated earlier with this being his parent for as long as he and the others could remember. Eventually, he gave up and insisted Malon be the leader. "Y-You first."

Hearing him say that made her stare back at him in surprise. For a boy, she expected him to take the lead into the darkness. "What? Look, if ChuChu aren't as dangerous as a Wolfos, then we shouldn't have much to be afraid of, right?" He nodded while taking a deep breath. "And, think of it this way… The Great Deku Tree raised you and Link, he would want you to use any means necessary to keep yourselves alive, even if you have to do things you wouldn't normally do."

With a much needed pep talk having given with a confident attitude, Mido felt the self-assurance and endured it with the bravery needed to overcome what will hopefully be their last obstacle. "You're right… Let's go!" He darted past her as they walked through the mouth of the Great Deku Tree, bringing them inside of the colossal-sized tree trunk. The interior of his body wasn't only immense by scale, but in bringing amazement as well.

Never had Malon known that a tree could be so large that its insides were equal to that of a cave. "Wow…" She repeated like when she first witnessed the forest guardian. "No wonder he was worshiped."

Breena, Mido's fairy, despite illuminating the floor, couldn't provide decent enough lighting for what we genuinely needed. Regardless, they had to make it work since they didn't have any other. "Mido!" A girl's voice called from behind them. They both turned around to see the strange Kokiri girl from before, Fado, standing just outside the Great Deku Tree with a torch in her hand. "Here… I noticed you didn't bring a torch and I know how forgetful you are." He growled in frustration while stomping over to her to snatch the torch out of her hand. She only smiled though, as if she was used to it.

"Hauuh! The Leader of the Kokiri isn't forgetful! I just didn't have the time to get one is all!" Mido tried to convince Fado. She just giggled as he turned back away from her in frustration and then proceeded to walk off to the center of the area.

"Hey, do you need a third person? I'll come with you too!" Fado enquired. Malon shrugged at the offer as it didn't make much of a difference to her. Technically, she supposed that they would have safety in numbers. However, Mido only grew more frustrated.

"No, Fado! Another girl isn't going to help! Sheesh! Why couldn't the Know-It-All Brothers have come with meeEEEEEEEEE-…!" He abruptly shouted in mid-sentence, leaving Malon and Fado to spin around and see him covered in what appeared to be an amoeba-like blob of opaque slime. Immediately, both girls screamed in surprise as he looked like he was trying to gasp for air from inside of it.

"MIDO!" Malon's heartbeat raced as her mind surged with thoughts, doing everything other than helping as she was too stunned to move.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Fado ran past the farm girl, breaking her out of thought enough to finally react. "AHHH! Get him out! Get him out! He can't breathe!" There wasn't anything that he could do as his arms were stuck and unable to swing the sword.

"DAMMIT!" Without anything other than a miserably rusted pitchfork, Malon ran forward with it while holding it like a spear, in front of her with both hands. She only stopped after the prongs (tines) sunk into the blob-like body of the ChuChu. Incidentally, she narrowly missed Mido, who was on the inside. Malon didn't even think about the pitchfork hitting him while she was in such a panicked state, just getting the monster off him. All of the training She had at the Ranch with lifting hay for the horses paid off as she effortlessly pulled upward to rip a giant chunk off of the ChuChu using the pitchfork's prongs. "HE-YAAA!" The portion of the ChuChu landed beside Fado's left foot, making her shriek. Despite that, the creature didn't like it in the least, vibrating in a weird way before ejecting Mido from inside of it "MIDO!"

He gasped with wide-eyes filled to the brim with terror. "By the Goddesses, I thought I was a goner!"

Fado helped him up as Malon stood her ground with a wide stance. Even after going through the events in the Lost Woods with the Wolfos chasing her, it was still unbearable for her to deal with the stress of any sort of combat. It just wasn't in her blood to fight, her nerves were not capable of handling it. Due to that very reason, her hands were incredibly shaky. "Hurry, get up!" She shouted.

Once Mido was back on his feet, and his fairy, Breena, returned to make sure he was alright, he quickly looked around prior to picking up the torch he had dropped during the attack. "Where did that bastard come from!?"

Fado gasped slightly at his language and chose to reprimand him. "Don't talk like that, Mido." Afterward, she answered his question. "Maybe it was hidden in the dark… Either way, you have Malon to thank, because I didn't have anything to help you other than a Deku Stick. I know that wouldn't have worked."

When they turned to look at the heroic Hylian, they finally noticed how upset she was. "Malon? Hey… Are you okay?" Her hands were still shaking violently. Nonetheless, she tried to slowly bob her head to acknowledge them. "Are you sure?"

Again, she repeated the motion in advance of speaking through gritted teeth. "I… I'm fine, let's just do this."

A sudden hand on her shoulder made Malon's entire body tense up. Thankfully, it wasn't a monster, for Fado's voice soon said "Don't worry… Everything's going to be okay. Look." The tension inside of Malon gradually faded until she looked behind her to see Mido poking at the glob of ChuChu jelly which was dislodged by the pitchfork still held tightly in her fingers.

"We might be able to use this, get over here!" Mido shouted as they were already on their way over to him. Accompanied by the light produced from both Breena as well as the torch, they all could plainly see that it was Red ChuChu Jelly, the exact kind that they needed. On top of that, more luck unfolded as there seemed to be a few small and round objects roughly the size of a cherry inside it.

"Are those the 'Blood Berries' that the Know-It-All Brothers needed?" Malon wondered aloud.

Fado and Malon squinted in disgust as Mido fearlessly reached inside of the glob to remove one of the objects. "Eww, Mido! That thing could still be alive! You know they split into smaller ChuChu when they get cut!" Fado gagged.

Mido shook his head while pulling out the aforemention object, revealing it to be red in colour as well. "It's dead, relax. It needs to be a little bigger than this for its cells to retain animation." He revulsed the girls further by holding the red object up to his nose, sniffing it as slime dripped onto the floor. "These are definitely Blood Berries. Let's collect some of them, including a bottle full of the jelly."

To Malon's own relief, Mido and Fado collected the berries, leaving her to keep watch for monsters. She wasn't very keen on getting her hands covered in slime anyway. Fado remained squeamish, but kept going regardless. Immediately preceding the gathering of a handful of Blood Berries, Mido scooped up enough of the Jelly into his empty bottle before corking it closed. "There… Now, let's get out of here."

A sudden sound reminiscent of water droplets echoed softly from the inside of the Great Deku Tree. The others didn't seem to notice at first Malon could hear it quite clearly. "What's that sound?" she asked.

Fado was the first to respond as she looked around. "Huh? I don't hear anything." Several abrupt plops could be heard around us, this time with Fado and Mido becoming aware.

"Watch out! They're coming from above!" Breena shouted with a tiny voice, making all of them look upward. ChuChu were literally falling from the ceiling high above, landing all around them to form one massive gloop of a cluster. Mido readied Link's sword as Malon held the Pitchfork the same as before, not about to let any of the slime-balls touch them. "They're everywhere!" There had to be at least twenty of them now, all surrounding them while others continued to drop from above. "Let's get out of here!"

Malon was already way ahead of them as her feet had begun backing up toward the entrance of the Great Deku Tree. Within a few seconds, more of the ChuChu fell from the ceiling to block their way out. "NO!" All of them screamed in unison, before a green coloured ChuChu almost landed on top of the farm girl, missing her by a mere foot. This time though, instead of fighting, she froze up in fear over the overwhelming numbers of enemies. They were so unbelievably close to the exit, but there were far too many of the creatures to fight off. 'I'm screwed!' The creature slithered its way closer before Mido ran at it with what she thought would be the intent of stabbing it. However, instead, he waved the torch in front of it, making the ChuChu stop and shrink away as if it was cowering from the flames.

"Wake up, Malon! Now's not the time to forget how to fight!" Fado waved her hands to get the farm girl's attention before shouting "Here! They don't like fire!" Brandishing a Deku Stick, she threw Malon one, leaving Mido to quickly light the end with his torch. "There! Now, let's go!"

Using the Deku Stick like a torch wasn't as easy as it could have been due to the fact that Malon refused to let go of the pitchfork, not wanting to come back later to get it. Instead, she struggled to hold them both in the same hand at the same time. In spite of the difficulty, it worked wonders for her potentially deadly situation. The ChuChu were afraid of the flame. The green coloured one which tried to get close to Mido had begun to melt from the heat of the torch, causing it to vibrate in fear while backing up.

None of the other monsters tried to attack from that point as the trio made their way toward the exit of the Great Deku Tree. They could feel the breeze and cool air flowing in from outside; a tiny bit of moonlight shone through too. The blob-like parasites parted from the group until Malon, Mido and Fado came to the last three monsters that were blocking the exit. "Now what do we do? Should we burn them?" The farm girl asked, hoping that the final ChuChu would melt or cower like the others did.

"Throw your Deku Stick at them! If you do that, we won't have to get close to them!" Breena, Mido's fairy, said while fluttering around Malon. It seemed more than logical to the red-headed Hylian, thus her hand obeyed near instantly, reeling back prior to throwing the lit Deku Stick directly at the middle ChuChu. The moment the stick struck, the two monsters beside it hurried away as the middle one shook violently while melting into a nauseating gooey puddle.

"Go!" As fast as they could, all of them ran out of the Great Deku Tree, out into the meadow surrounded by moonlight.

"We made it! Keep going though, we have to get back to Link!" Malon shouted, running even faster than previously. She looked back and saw that the ChuChu didn't pursue them outside of the Great Deku Tree. The monsters appeared to retreat back into the darkness from within. Either way, all that mattered was that they were in the clear. She felt a big relief as well as a surge of energy while sprinting through the meadow and path leading back to Kokiri Village. The closer they came to Saria's house, the more Malon's heartbeat sped up. "We're almost there! I hope the Know-It-All Brothers found the ingredients for that homemade red potion they wanted to give him!"

The Kokiri girl known as Fifi was still outside tending to Epona as the rescue group hurried across the bridge which led over the stream running through the village. Saria's house came into sight as Mido gradually took the lead away from Malon. None of them thought of it as a contest though, especially since all that mattered was getting the Red ChuChu Jelly and Blood Berries needed for the potions.

"I hope he's okay too!" Mido surprised them by saying, showing more concern for Link.

Epona was quite happy to see Malon once they got close enough. Unfortunately, the farm girl didn't have time for the horse so she simply waved, thankful that the Kokiri girl, Fifi, was taking good care of her. "Did you find everything?" Fifi asked as they darted by her heading straight for the doorway to Saria's house.

"Yes!" Mido replied while taking out the bottle of Red ChuChu Jelly and Blood Berries, holding it in his hands. The voices of the Know-It-All Brothers could be heard from within the tree-home, meaning they had returned with what they needed. Without spending any more time on questions, Mido flew past the doorway with Fado and Malon following closely behind. "We're back! We got everything!"

Inside, Malon was taken aback, almost traumatized to see Saria lying in bed next to Link. The green-haired Kokiri girl was snuggled up to the hero's side with his head resting on her shoulder and her leg draped across his. A blush soon arrived on Malon's face as the thoughts of Saria being his girlfriend invaded her mind yet again. 'Why am I so upset about it if she is?' The farm girl asked herself, innocently trying to figure out why she was so obsessed about Link being in a relationship.

"Oh, thank the Goddesses! What took so long!?" Saria said.

Malon's blood ran cold as she groaned in frustration while Saria leaned up away from Link. Malon felt the kokiri girl shouldn't talk about them taking so long when they were the ones almost getting killed by a goop of ChuChu. 'All this time, she's just been lying around with Link, caressing his cheek and calling him sweetie.' She tried hard not to show it, but her teeth clenched in anger.

"The Great Deku Tree's remains are infested with ChuChu. They ambushed us from above. There had to be hundreds of them. We barely got out of there alive." Mido responded as the Know-It-All Brothers worked on crushing and mixing plants using a mortar and pestle. "We managed to get both the Blood Berries and Red ChuChu Jelly before we had to get out."

Malon shook her head in agreement, continuing to try her hardest in holding back from looking embarrassed or upset. She didn't want to cause a scene in front of everyone.

"Wonderful…" The third brother said as he used the mortar and pestle. Mido put the bottle of Red ChuChu Jelly and handful of Blood Berries down on the table in front of them. "We've collected all of the ingredients for the tonic that'll force his body to retain its spirit. Honestly, he's lucky. We had a bit of trouble finding some of the plants." One of the brothers ripped up a leaf prior to dropping the pieces into the mortar to be mixed. The other brother resumed speaking, listing some of the involved makings. "Spiritus radix, corpus cortex, sanguis bacas, and cerebrum folium… Loosely translated, that's Spirit Root, Body Bark, Blood Berries and Mind Leaf. Spirit, body, heart and mind."

Not very much of that made any sense to Malon, just sounding like gibberish to her. Thankfully, what she understood quite clearly was that the ingredients should cure Link. Without any doubt in her mind, the farm girl couldn't wait to see him awake, with a clear mind and no hallucinations. She felt she'd gone through way too much tonight for all of this to be futile. "Will it work?" She asked, cutting through a small amount of silence following the brothers explanation.

One of the brothers stared at Malon for a moment as he picked up a Blood Berry, proceeding to mash it with his fingertips. The berry burst from the bottom and out spilled a red liquid-like substance resembling seeds in blood. Added the juice to the rest of the ingredients, the brother holding the mortar and pestle resumed grinding to mix everything together into a watery concoction. Although it didn't smell very good, it wasn't quite as bad as the scent of a Hartshorn Spore. "There's not really any way to tell until we give it to him. If his fever comes down and his delirium fades, he'll live and we'll know that it worked…" He hesitated for a moment in advance of continuing. "If it doesn't…"

Saria waved her hands while expressing exasperation over how long it was taking. "We get it! Please, just… Hurry… Mix it as fast as you can."

Two of the brothers grabbed more Blood Berries and squeezed their juice out into the mortar as the one mixing it sped up some from the request. Malon's attention returned to Link as the brothers prepared his medicine. He didn't look much better than when she left to get the berries. The wounds on his forehead and shoulder had stopped bleeding, possibly from the Aloe Vera or the Red Potion. Yet, his overall condition was still poor given his shivering with sweaty, pale skin and a scrawny appearance. The severe situation was ever so slightly reduced when the farm girl's brain thought 'I bet Dad could help put some meat on his bones. That man doesn't do anything other than cook and eat, all day long.' A tiny smile stayed on her lips for a minute before slowly fading away as she opted to instead hang her head. She let the shield slip off her arm and clank on the floor, afterward proceeding to put the pitchfork back in the corner that it came out of.

"Are you okay, Malon?" Saria asked in response to the noise of the shield hitting the ground.

Sitting on the bedside, Malon reached up to feel Link's forehead. Unfortunately, he was still ice cold, even colder than he was before. Despite having thick blankets and a fire going next to him, he wasn't warming up in the least. His body just kept feeling as if it was turning to ice. "Yeah… It's just… It's been a really long day."

All of the brothers abruptly stood up as Saria replied. "Link's had it worse than any of us. Hang in there, things will be better before you know it."

The brothers made their way over to the bed where Link was until they stood directly in front of him. "That's right…" The brother holding the mortar said. "The tonic's ready, so now's our chance to make everything better." Hearing that brought comfort and dread at the same time since they had to sit by and watch to see if he'd get better or die. First thing, however, they had to wake him up again. With any luck, the Hartshorn Spore would work like it did the last time. "Saria… Wake him up, would you?"

Saria nodded while grabbing the Hartshorn Spore, bringing it closer. Once held under Link's nose, they waited for him to respond to it. It definitely had more than enough scent remaining as Malon and Saria's eyes watered in irritation just from the close proximity. Several seconds later past and Link hadn't so much as budged. In fact, he hadn't moved a single muscle in a while, leaving them all with great concern. Malon had her eyes directly focused on his chest, watching for any sign of breathing. Her thoughts froze when she realized that he didn't appear to be breathing at all. "Link? Can you hear me?"

Saria placed her hand on his forehead while a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "He's really-really cold… Link! Wake up!" Malon's hand flew forward on impulse to feel his chest, trying to figure out if he had a heartbeat or not. "Link!?" Saria shook him while crying.

Two of the Know-It-All Brothers restrained the green-haired Kokiri by pulling her away. "Saria! Stop! Yelling at him isn't going to wake him up! We'll just have to try to give it to him in this state and run the risk of him choking."

Without being frantically shaken, Malon tried again to frantically feel for Link's heartbeat. Temporarily, she wasn't able to feel anything, frightening her into fearing the worse until she finally managed to find a very faint thumping, one that was so dim, his shallow breathing couldn't even be seen by them.

"That's not going to work, he'll choke immediately!" Saria responded while resisting being restrained. Her deeply distraught emotional state seemed to give her super strength.

"Just do it!" Malon shouted back with a crackling voice. "He's not going to make it much longer!"

The Know-It-All Brother holding the mortar came forward and then suddenly squeezed Link's nose shut. Another brother pried open his mouth. "Easy with him!" Saria shouted as they slowly poured a small amount of the tonic into Link's mouth prior to stopping, letting him swallow that portion, just to get it in his system. They even rubbed his throat like Malon had previously done.

"Drink it… Drink… Drink… Drink." They said repetitively until they saw and felt his chest rise as he swallowed it. Happiness rang out amongst the group. However, wariness quickly took its place. Link was drinking, yet they still needed to find out if it was going to work or not.

Malon was the first to voice that concern. "How will we know wh-…" All three of the brothers shushed her in unison, silencing her as they continued to do nothing other than watch Link breathe. 'Farore, please.' The farm girl prayed. 'Don't take him away from us… Don't take him away from me.' Watching him left Malon on edge until she had to make herself focus on anything else. While it probably wasn't the best thing, she chose to pay attention to the subtle rise and fall of his chest. Although her choice didn't assist in taking her mind off him, it did allow her to become aware of the fact that he had completely stopped breathing.

The Hylian girl's first instinct was merely going into shock. She couldn't really believe that the hero wasn't breathing, so she re-checked, holding her left hand up above his stomach with hope that it was still there and she simply wasn't noticing it again. Sure enough, she couldn't feel any movement; no thumping, no nothing. "Uhh… Guys!?" Her hand then slid up and over as she tried to feel for his heartbeat. Instantly, she became distressed beyond her natural limit as she realized she couldn't feel a pulse either. "He's not breathing and he doesn't have a heartbeat!"

Saria broke down further, screaming to the top of her lungs as Mido and Fado looked away with quivering lips. "NOOOOO! NOOOO! LINK!" Everyone had a terrible grimace plastered on their face.

Malon's chest heaved and turned into sobs as well. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry until her eyes fell out.

The Know-It-All brothers, on the other hand, showed absolutely no sign of remorse. They even went so far as to hush the girls. "Shh! Quiet! Please… Leave him be."

Malon's fists clenched tight enough for her fingernails to dig into her hands before bursting out in frustrated anger. "DON'T YOU SHH ME! HE'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD!"

They waved their hands as Malon and Saria cried harder. "Just be quiet! Look!"

Although the farm girl's eyes were filled with tears, she managed to open them and stare at Link's lifeless body. 'All he ever wanted to do was be a hero and rescue people who were in danger…' She thought as she watched. 'He didn't deserve this, he deserved to live!'

The only sound inside of the room was the sizzling from the fire pit, making time appear to have slowed down as the group remained silent. If anything or anyone in this world could bring him back, they had already been begged for long ago. Malon's faith in particular was of note. She always felt a strong connection to the Golden Goddesses. Since she was a Hylian, religion was natural for her, it flowed through her people's veins. Their pointed ears specifically represented their physical devotion by being able to hear the gods' sacred whispers. However, same as most folk, there were a few times in her life where her faith had been tested to near breaking point. This was definitely one of them.

"L-Link…" Malon murmured prior to having the shock of her life as he, without warning, inhaled a loud and deep breath, almost as if it was a gasp. The farm girl's jaw dropped as Mido, Fado, and Saria looked like they couldn't believe their eyes either.

Immediately, all three of the Know-It-All Brothers rejoiced in glee, congratulating each other over their accomplishment. "He's back! He's alive!"

Malon's voice remained unable to say anything as she was too stuck in a state of ultimate astonishment. Life outside of normal society was far too confusing to her. 'Here I was five seconds ago believing that he was dead as he wasn't breathing and his heart wasn't beating. Now, he's doing both.' She watched as he slightly moved around a little more in an attempt to get comfy in Saria's bed. When the hylian girl reached forward to feel his heart, more tears poured out of her eyes as his pulse was pumping at a steady rate, much more vivid than from before.

"The tonic worked." One of the Know-It-All Brothers stated. "His soul came back to his body and his body is re-adjusting to it."

The Know-It-All Brother holding Saria released her and she zoomed over to Link, tenderly placing the palm of her hand directly to his forehead. "Oh, my baby boy! Praise Farore!"

Saria soon broke down into a fit of weeping, which was followed by Malon's and Fado's sobs. Everyone stared at them as they cried. Nonetheless, they were incredibly happy. The boys might not have understood the girl's emotions well enough to comprehend why they weren't conveying content. Then again, that wasn't going to stop Malon, Saria or Fado from expressing themselves. Malon in particular felt a special sense of accomplishment. All the time she went through everything she had, leaving the ranch on her own, riding a hysterical filly, going into the Forbidden Forest, traveling far into the Lost Woods without a fairy, encountering a Skull Kid, rescuing Link, fighting off two Wolfos, killing a few ChuChu before becoming surrounded by them, and finally, getting all the medicine Link needed. All of it paid off and was worth it a hundred times over. "Link!" The farm girl ecstatically shouted, hugging the blonde hair boy tightly.

The Know-It-All Brother holding the rest of the tonic in the stone mortar smiled in advance of clearing his throat. "Ahem… We should really give him the rest of this medicine so he'll get even better."

Saria and Malon sniffled before drying their eyes. Then, both of them, in impulsive unison, gave Link a soft kiss. Malon kissed his chin as Saria kissed his right temple. Once they realized they did it together, it made both of them blush for some reason. 'I'm such an idiot.' The farm girl thought, while both of them let the Know-It-All Brothers resume taking care of Link. 'If she's his girlfriend, then I just made myself look stupid and she's probably feeling jealous now…' Pursing her lips, she grumbled softly under her breath. 'I'm not looking to break anyone up.'

The brother holding the mortar waited for one of the other brothers to pry open Link's mouth. Then he squeezed Link's nose shut like previously. Taking no delay, they poured a good portion of the mixture right on top of his tongue. The last brother restrained him, keeping the hero from squirming or moving his head. "Drink… Drink… Drink…" They spoke continually in hopes that the unconscious boy might hear them.

Even though she was definitely happy to see the progress Link was making, Malon kept feeling like an idiot in regards to her conundrum. To quell the awkwardness, she attempted to pretend as if she weren't interested in romance in the first place. 'Why am I even thinking like that? I don't want to be a girlfriend for a boy in the first place. I'm just a ten year old girl, what would I want to do with a gross boy?'

Link managed to swallow the medicine without choking, which was an enormous benefit. He took about two to three gulps before the brothers let go of him, satisfied with the amount given. His breathing returned to normal even though he coughed a few times. From the sounds of it, he had congestion in his chest, which was why he kept trying to clear it out. "There… He's had enough." Saria and Malon walked closer again as the brother holding the mortar placed it on the wooden table. "He'll have to take one more dosage, the last half, in twelve hours… say… somewhere before noon… For now, it's best to let him rest."

With a quivering lip, despite the farm girl's earlier thoughts, she thanked them with emotions for Link flowing through her mind. "Thank you… You guys saved his life."

Saria quickly hugged all of them prior to saying the same thing. "Thank you. You Know-It-All Brothers have always been highly appreciated. We Kokiri probably wouldn't be able to make it right now without their guidance, especially in the absence of the Great Deku Tree."

They all smirked with self-satisfaction in advance of a sibling announcing. "You're too flattering, Saria… We don't want to lose Link anymore than you or anyone else here. Now then, we're going to head back home and debate about how things should proceed. We'll return later around the time Malon should leave with him."

Hearing them say that made the red-head girl turn her head to their direction in shock, not having expected them to say that at all. "Wait, what!? I can't go home tonight. It's pitch black outside!" Honestly, she had assumed that they would let her stay here in their village tonight, at least until morning time. It was far too dangerous to go out right now, with everything leading up to this point being solid proof of that.

"You don't understand…" The brother in the middle responded "He needs to leave the forest as soon as possible, so he can fully recover."

Malon's troubles only seemed to continue, leaving her curious about when everything would return to normal. "What? Why? He's out of the Lost Woods. Doesn't the curse only apply there?" Looking around she continued. "I thought the Great Deku Tree made this place safe from it?"

Link abruptly moaned as the brother's replied. "Perhaps… But, without the Great Deku Tree's presence, we can't be overly certain. It would be best for him to stay out of the forest for a while." Even though Malon couldn't refuse the brother's since they knew more about the subject than she did, they could see she was upset about having to leave. They knew she'd much rather stay there with the cozy fire watching over Link for the night. A compromise was the best they could do. "Right now, just let him rest. He needs to warm back up and then he should regain consciousness."

Saria sat down on the bed and caressed his cheek in advance of brushing a lock of blonde hair away from his face. "Okay… We should help him raise his body heat.."

Malon's cheeks reddened as Saria laid back down with Link, draping her leg around his, same as she had done earlier. The Know-It-All Brothers turned around and made their way out of the house as Mido and Fado expressed ease with everything having worked. Looking closer, the farm girl noticed there was a look in Mido's eyes as he stared at both Saria and Link, almost like he was jealous and frustrated that Saria was clinging to the blonde haired boy so much tonight. Part of Malon was curious why Mido was jealous; she also wondered how long Saria and Link had been in their relationship. Either way, the farm girl couldn't do much other than sit there feeling awkward until the green-haired kokiri girl said "Malon? Could you lie beside him too? He desperately needs the body heat."

In spite of hearing what Saria said, Malon remained motionless for several moments prior to tentatively crawling up onto Link's left side, lying down afterward. All of it felt unusual to her, as it was truly the first time the young hylian had ever laid next to a boy, regardless of the reason. Clearing her throat, she laid stiff as a board with her arms by her side, trying not to look like she was totally out of place. Saria displayed nothing other than affection for the hero, tenderly rubbing his chest while he moaned very softly, either in pain or relaxation. Strangely, despite the bed feeling warm, Link gave off a slightly chilly aura. With all hopes, the medicine the Know-It-All Brothers gave him would cure that. Then, Malon figured she wouldn't have to feel so awkward lying next to him. She'd be able to get up.

"Saria…" Mido suddenly spoke. "Fado and I are going to deal with the Great Deku Tree. His insides are full of ChuChu. I don't think they're going to come out; it would merely be wise of us to board the entrance shut so the village won't get overrun in the future if those monsters do decide to explore further." Saria bobbed her head without saying a single word, far too focused on Link to even respond. Mido furrowed his brow and then grunted before stomping off with Fado following behind him, attempting to calm him down.

Without the others in there with her, the feeling of discomfort for Malon grew substantially. She tried to think of anything else to get her mind off of lying in bed next to a boy, anything that would help her relax. To her dismay, all she could think about was what her father and Ingo were doing. It had been several hours since she'd gone into the Forbidden Forest. If her father truly saw her go in, she figured he might have gone to Castle Town to notify the guards so they'd be on lookout for her. Having a group of guards looking for her would be an awful waste of the kingdom's time and she knew beyond a doubt that she was going to get chewed out. However, with any luck, seeing that she found Link, there's a chance Talon might be a tad more lenient on his daughter. 'He'll probably be angry at me for a few days and make me do extra work. I'm sure he'll get over it eventually.'

Gulping from the nervousness, she kept thinking. 'But, if dad ever figured out I was feeling so uncomfortable while lying next to a boy, in a stranger's bed, he'd be furious. I'd have to explain that it wasn't anything romantic.' When the farm girl thought about it, she knew that her father would tease her for years on end about what she was currently doing. Even though she was only ten, Talon always made sure to rant about how much she needed to find the perfect boyfriend. In fact, the past few months, her father had targeted Link. It made sense considering he's been the only boy she'd been around. Quoting her father, he said Link was 'A handsome young man who merely needs to mature a little more.'

Seeing how much fantasy or all the heroic games Link talks of, insisting that he'd truly saved the kingdom, the farm girl could see exactly why her father would say such a thing. Then again, being out there, even if it was just for tonight, getting to see the hardships of the world which existed outside of urban population, it made Malon realize that a lot of the things Link had spoken of weren't that far fetched. 'Ughh… Why can't I think of anything else? Like… Umm… Umm… Epona, how's she doing? Hopefully she'll be ready for a ride home. She might be too exhausted.' Link abruptly broke the red-headed hylian out of her thoughts when he turned his head away from Saria, toward her. He wasn't awake, but as soon as Malon realized how close together their faces were, she turned away with flushed cheeks. 'This is taking too long. How much longer is it going to be?' As she turned her head slightly, to see if he was still facing her, she saw that not only was he looking at her, but Saria was now doing the same. The crackling of the fire tuned out any other subtle sounds, although Malon could still hear Link's breathing. She wished that he'd move his head. It was embarrassing to have his face so close to her own.

"Malon…" Saria suddenly spoke. "Can I ask you something?"

At first, the farm girl didn't mind answering the question, hoping that it would take her mind off of Link for a few minutes. Since this was the kokiri's house, Malon figured it was the least she could do. "S-Sure, I don't mind."

While Saria could tell Malon was visibly uncomfortable, she proceeded with her question regardless. "Well… What exactly is your relationship with Link? I mean, I know that's an odd question to ask… It's just… How do you know him?"

Malon's heart thumped at the subject. She feared Saria was probing for information, perhaps unhappy that the two hylians were such chums. 'Seeing how I've been unable to control my blush or my nervousness, she's probably been holding back from slapping me the entire time. After all, she is his girlfriend.' Summoning the courage to say something, she settled with telling the truth. "Uhh… Well… *Ahem*… W-We're just friends. I met him in Hyrule Castle Town a few months ago." Saria continued staring at Malon as she talked. "H-He helped me find my father, Talon, who owns Lon Lon Ranch… I… I'm his daughter… Then… Umm… Well… I loaned him Epona, the filly outside. I see him every now and then when he comes around."

Link mumbled something about four giants holding up the moon prior to wiggling a little, adjusting his position in the bed. To Malon's shock, his leg gently touched hers, causing the farm girl to jerk away with a tiny gasp. Once she comprehended how silly she had just acted, she felt further humiliation in regards to Saria's raised eyebrow.

"I see… I thought you might have been his girlfriend or something." Saria meeped out.

Malon's reaction was certainly swift, yet over dramatic as she raised my voice. "W-What!? N-No! No-No-No! You've got it all wrong…" With nervous laughter and cherry red cheeks, she mentally cursed herself for managing to get into this situation. "It's nothing like that! We're just friends!"

The green-haired Kokiri bobbed her head as if agreeing with Malon. She also felt Link's forehead again. "Okay… No need to shout. I was just wondering."

Although she seemed utterly calm, on the inside Malon felt like freaking out, with terrible anxiety rising from within her. The thought of why Saria would ask such a question kept circling around in her mind nonstop. Then again, on a completely new level, she was now curious as to why she couldn't stop herself from focusing on it so severely. Her youth left her wondering why the day had been filled with nothing other than concern for Link or other strange feelings for him. She wished for all of it to stop, because the confusion it was causing was just too much for her to handle. Now she felt like she was going to have to deal with the constant awkwardness of having liked a boy that already had a girlfriend.

'Maybe I should just get up and go.' Malon contemplated, wanting to leave. However, she was worried that, by doing so, it would cause more of a scene than it was worth. On the other hand, she wondered if by apologizing, things would turn out okay. 'I mean, I could tell her that I didn't know about them being a couple. Then I'll never act too friendly with Link again.' It seemed like a good idea to the farm girl. 'Why was I too friendly in the first place? What am I getting at with this? I didn't know Saria was his girlfriend, but it shouldn't matter, because I'm not interested in boys.'

Soon after that thought, Malon sighed audibly enough to make Saria stare at her again. "L-Listen… Saria… Umm, don't take this the wrong way….. I… I didn't know that you were his girlfriend. I'm not trying to flirt with him or anything, okay? I promise… I'm just not used to boys in general." After saying that, she waited for Saria to respond. When it took a bit, she thought 'I'm such an idiot.'

Preceding what seemed like an eternity, Malon turned her head to look at the kokiri. Saria's facial features took the farm girl by surprise, as she had a deep blush that was accompanied by a contorted smile. "W-What?" All of a sudden, Saria broke out into non-stop giggling that went on for about a solid sixty seconds.

Malon was mortified, humiliated beyond all doubt. She felt like crying over her own foolishness. Her hope to remain friends was dwindling out the door.

"M-Malon, you have it all wrong too…" Saria finally explained. "I'm not Link's girlfriend and he's not my boyfriend."

Suddenly Malon's mind went blank at that revelation. "You… Y-You're not?"

Saria shook her head. She continued to laugh softly, trying her hardest to stop, as it was disturbing Link and upsetting her new hylian friend. "No, I'm not."

'This whole time, I've been worried that I was offending her and now she's telling me that they're not romantically involved? If that's the case, then why is she so attached to him?' Malon couldn't help other than to think about how the kokiri girl had been cuddling, kissing, doting and rubbing the unconscious hero without a lick of hesitation. That seemed to Malon like something only boyfriends and girlfriends would do. The farm girl knew a sister or friend wouldn't do something like that. 'I'm so confused. What exactly is her relationship with him then?'

Saria finally managed to stop herself from giggling and then resumed their conversation. "You can relax, Malon. Link and I, we're best friends forever… But, I'm more like his mother than anything else. I'm sure he feels the same way. You can ask him once he wakes up."

Blinking from the surprise, Malon's jaw dropped. In fact, her jaw likely would have fallen off if she hadn't been lying down. Hearing such a young girl say something about being a mother blew her mind. Though, she also had a lot of trouble understanding how it could be possible. She grew suspicious, wondering if that was a lie. It didn't make sense that a mother could look the same age as the child. Aside from that, she knew young girls didn't act like mothers toward boys; at least, not in hylian society.

"Seriously!?" Malon exclaimed prior to lowering her voice as she snuggled with Link, holding his arm while laying her head on his shoulder. "It's just… You're too young to be a mother and, well, I thought Link didn't have any parents?"

Saria giggled softly as Link squirmed in bed, muttering more nonsense that couldn't be interpreted. "I'll take 'too young' as a compliment. However, I'm actually seventy-seven years old." Malon's eyebrows furrowed in complete confusion as Saria simply smiled at her before continuing. "Kokiri always resemble hylian children because we're ageless. We're still mortal, by all means. We just don't go through the aging process like humans. In fact, the Know-It-All Brothers are the oldest, having over two hundred and fifty something years under their boots."

Considering that the green-haired girl was seventy seven, Malon wasn't sure how to comprehend everything properly. She was completely dumbstricken by the number. However, she remained skeptical that Saria was Link's mother. Her father's old explanation about the stork bringing babies was as stale as month old bread. While she wasn't fully sure how all of that stuff worked, she was pretty sure that Kokiri didn't make Hylians. "So… W-Wait… You… Gave birth to Link?"

Again, Saria's cheeks flushed very lightly at the thought as she stuttered a few times. "O-Oh… Well… Umm… N-No. It's not like that... Look, I'm not actually his mother. I just raised him from when he was a baby… I've been here for him no matter what and some of the most cherished memories of my life have taken place while I was caring for him." Suddenly, deeply maternal instincts could be felt radiating off her as she pulled the sheet up around Link for him, still keeping herself pressed against his side while snuggly wrapped around his arm. She might have been a Kokiri, but she was incredibly mature and nurturing. "The Great Deku Tree put me in charge of fostering him and since the very moment I laid eyes on him, I fell in love with him in a way that a parent loves their child."

"He was such a cute baby, with the brightest sky blue eyes I'd ever seen and a smile that would make my heart flutter in joy… Oh, but don't tell him I said that! I'm sure he'd feel a little embarrassed." She giggled one more time in addition to reaching down below her bed to grab something. When she came back up, Malon saw that it was an old brown book with a flower stenciled onto the cover. The look in her eye seemed to confirm that it was an object the kokiri held dear. Upon opening the cover, multiple high-quality black and white pictures with extreme detail were seen of her holding a baby boy, presumably Link, in various poses. "These are called Pictographs… They're made by an advanced image capturing device called a Pictograph Box. A tall Hylian man from Hyrule Castle Town once came to Kokiri Village. He introduced himself as Barnum and used his machine to take these for me."

Malon had never heard of neither the invention nor the inventor, however, she was mesmerized by the pictures. Link was way beyond cute, he was adorable. On the first few pics, with chubby cheeks and a plump body, all of the baby fat made it hard to believe that it was the same slender bodied boy lying next to her. He looked so incredibly happy next to Saria, who looked equally delighted. "He was such a troublemaker when he was a baby…" Accompanied with a giggle, she pointed to one of the images with her index finger. "But, not as mischievous as when he was a kid." The next pictographs showed a slightly older Link, somewhere around five years of age with purple berries smeared on his face and a slice of an orange in his mouth, smiling wide as Saria appeared to be laughing furiously at his adorability. Seeing those pictographs made the farm girl realize and accept that saria had truly fostered Link and done a very fine job at it. Inside, it made her extremely happy.

Ever since the first moment she came to think that Saria was his girlfriend, she couldn't help from feeling an unsettling disappointment. Now, after knowing that she's his mother, Malon felt a sense of relief.

'He's so cute.' Her smile stayed wide even though she was strangling herself in her own imagination. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid… Why do I keep thinking like that? Boys… are not… cute!'

Saria giggled as she stared at the pictures with Malon. "He was one and a half years old in the first set and then five in the second… Ooh, I can remember every second like it was just yesterday!" Link moaned softly as Saria slowly closed the book and placed it back underneath her bed.

After becoming aware of how close he was to her again, Malon held back from further embarrassment just to not be humiliated. His face was close to hers, but he wasn't awake so she tried hard to make her heart stop pounding. 'Wow… I can't believe that this is Link's backstory. I never would have guessed.' She started thinking in an attempt to take her mind off his leg, which was now touching hers. 'For some reason, even though he never talked about it, I kind of expected him to have real parents that were looking after him… I don't know why… It's just how I initially thought.' All of it made Malon wonder exactly what happened to his biological mother and father. She knew it might be rude to ask, she also knew that this was her chance to learn as much about Link as she possibly could. "You raised a healthy young boy, Saria, and by all means, you did it fantastically… But… Can I ask another question without snooping too much? I'm not trying to be impolite or disrespectful... What happened to his natural parents?"

Malon worried that she had gone too far when Saria's smile faded and she just stared at the farm girl, looking directly into the hylian's blue eyes as if she was pondering whether or not to share the information that she, obviously due to her response, knew. Malon's lips remained sealed as she waited for the kokiri girl to talk. Eventually, after glancing back and forth between Link and Malon, Saria made up her mind. Accompanied with a sigh, she said "I never personally met either of them… I only saw his mother for a brief second as she and her horse raced by me in the middle of a rainy evening. Regrettably, during that time, the King of Hyrule had yet to unify the land, so the outside world had been going through countless fierce revolutions, the biggest of which soon came to be known as the Hyrulean Civil War."

Thinking back, Malon could recall her father telling her how much of an uproar the Kingdom was in shortly prior to her birth. Hylians of the Royal Family were allied with both the Gorons; rock people, and the Zora; ocean-dwelling fish people, same as they are now. Nonetheless, at the time, those Gorons and Zora were at war with each other. To make things even worse, the Gerudo, brown skinned women who live in the desert, had been experiencing a rapid decline in their relationship with all of the tribes, much worse than they are now. That decade was completely unstable. "His real mother was fatally wounded. The Great Deku Tree informed me that she had left her baby son, Link, in his care with her dying breath."

This Great Deku Tree sounded like an admirable father figure to Link. 'It's a shame that I wasn't lucky enough to meet him.' Malon thought to herself.

"As the guardian spirit of the forest, he felt fully responsible and accepted the obligation…" Saria continued "After his mother passed away, I was entrusted by the Great Deku Tree with nurturing him. He was raised as a Kokiri." Link suddenly coughed and made them tense up. It was a harsh cough that was followed with several shorter coughs. Instantly, Saria held him still as the force made him jerk around in the bed. "Shh, it's okay… It's okay…" She whispered to him while hugging his head to her chest. Even though he didn't seem to be awake, he still looked as if he calmed from her touch.

Upon closer inspection, Malon noticed a black goo-like substance trickling out of Link's mouth. This frightened her as she wasn't sure what to think. Thankfully, Saria seemed to be aware of it as she used her own sweater to wipe it off his face. "Oh, sweetie… Please get better, for us. We need you."

Link moaned and then, amazingly showed signs of life by wrapping his arm around her waist, gently holding her. This caused her to smile softly while trailing her hand along his cheek before reaching his long and pointed left ear. With her instincts, plus abilities only a mother could have, she managed to soothe him by tenderly rubbing his ear.

Malon's only option was to smile at the sight, as it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside knowing that Link had always been in good hands. She felt so comfortable now knowing that everything was going to be okay. There wasn't anything to fear now. 'When the Know-It-All Brothers return, I'll be able to take Link back to the ranch where we both can fully recover. Until then, I'll just have to wait here in bed, next to him.'