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.

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

.

.

.

[Time: 5:44 A.M. (Early Morning)]

[Date- Month 4 'Mid-Spring', Day 3, 8th Era]

[Location- Hyrule, Hyrule Field - Lon Lon Ranch]

.

The bear pelt was still warm from Link's body heat. The feeling of being sunken down into the fur was as if he'd slept on cloud nine. He thanked his luck that he enjoyed firm beds, for the straw underneath the pelt provided more than enough comfy padding for his liking. Unfortunately, morning time there at the ranch was almost always immediately met with the sound of cucco crowing, making it next to impossible to oversleep. Since Link had gone to bed last night at a relatively decent time, he wasn't tired enough to try and get more rest anyway. He decided it would be best to get up and start the day doing chores. Today was his turn to gather the eggs from the cucco coop, which also meant that they were going to have omelets for breakfast. That thought alone was enough to get the boy out of bed.

"Good Morning." The hero said to nobody in particular, having gotten used to saying it to either Navi or Saria. Even though neither of them were there, it was of slight comfort to hear his own voice. Leaning up, the early morning light shone through the window, right into Link's eyes. The brightness snapped him fully awake. His arms were a bit stiff from the way he had slept on them, but a quick stretch was more than enough to rid himself of any kinks. "It looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day."

Yawning, Link rubbed the sleep from his eyes prior to making an attempt at getting up onto his feet. Compared to last week, he felt a thousand times better. The hero's bones didn't hurt anymore and the scratches on his forearm from the Wolfos in the Lost Woods had begun to slowly fade away as well. "Nnn..." He moaned while stretching more, straightening his legs now. 'I wonder if Talon still plans to let me tag along with them today on his wagon ride to Castle Town. Malon's going too.'

Recently, he'd been given near full responsibility, on par with Malon, there at the Ranch. The boy certainly wasn't as good at doing things as they were. But, it was an honour to be integrated so quickly without needing to truly prove himself to them. They trusted him and were treating him like family; unlike how many people had treated him along my travels.

'I'm planning to do everything they need me to do, without question. There are, however, a couple of things I'd like to do before we leave Castle Town, if I have the opportunity.' After opening the chest by the foot of his make-shift bed, he grabbed his tunic and belt out from within. They were still the only pair of clothes that he currently had there at the ranch. 'I'd personally like to see if I could get into the castle to communicate with Princess Zelda. With the way things were left off though, I'm not sure that's even going to be possible.'

Since Link's return from the future, the King of Hyrule, Zelda's father, had been made aware of Ganondorf's true intention and had banished the demon thief from ever setting foot in Hyrule ever again. It wasn't an easy task to accomplish either, especially considering the boy's diminutive child stature. It took the princess's own testimony in addition to Link showing proof by using the sacred Triforce mark on his left hand as evidence. While the young hero expected some form of recognition, those of royalty instead refused to acknowledge his purpose and his accomplishment. The almighty King of Hyrule himself chose to 'permanently' dismiss Link from the kingdom's service, acting as if the boy had been nothing other than a burden to him and his countless series of inane advisors.

'Everything that happened was ludicrous.' Link thought as he slipped into his forest green tunic, already going on a mental rant within the five minutes he'd been awake. 'That's partly why I'm so frustrated with Princess Zelda; even though the current iteration of her isn't to blame for the way things are now. It's not that I wanted to become overly famous for getting a back-stabbing traitor exiled from the kingdom. The whole thing is similar to when I first returned from the future. I had many thoughts on how upset I was that I'm not remembered as a hero by anyone. Nobody I've saved in a yet to be future knows I saved them. While I might have learned since then to not expect such rewards, I would still like a bit of appreciation.'

Grunting, his hands fumbled for a moment prior to sliding his belt through the loops on his tunic, tightening it to get a decent hold. Walking over to his boots, the hero decided to grab an apple from off the nightstand, one that was nice and juicy and he'd picked yesterday precisely for this morning. 'There aren't many people left around that even acknowledge me for who I am.' Link's mind continued while he put on his boots and bit into the apple with a crunch at the same time. 'Zelda knows, of course. Saria knows some, and finally Navi… if she's still al-… well…' Stopping, the boy refused to finish thinking that sentence. Instead, he moved on while chewing the succulent apple. 'Nnn, Ruto and Nabooru might know something since they're sages, and I suppose Kaepora Gaebora. Then, finally, as long as he still believes me, Captain Orsen from the Training Grounds in Castle Town.'

That handful might seem like enough to make it count. However, in comparison to the hundreds of people he'd come across on his journey, it wasn't much at all. All the hoi polloi in the Kingdom had absolutely no clue who he was and very likely never will. The general public would forever remain oblivious to the Hero of Time's deeds. 'Instead of living in the lap of luxury, getting statues chiseled after me, and doing as I will…' Link contemplated. 'I've been reduced down to a lowly rancher hand, below that of Ingo.' Slowly but surely, his lips curled into a smile as he gave his body another minute of good stretching. Despite being deemed humble by most of society in terms of status, somehow he couldn't help other than to feel a type of happiness radiate from within him. These modest people, the Lon Lon family, give vital nutrients to most of the people in the Kingdom, including royalty, all the way up to King Harkinian Nohansen VII of Hyrule. Along with that, they've become a sort of family for him, a hylian family that functioned normally. 'I guess I wouldn't have it any other way at this point.'

Taking another big bite out of the apple, Link decided to get a move on and start the days' worth of chores. As he made his way toward the door, the cucco clucking, crowing, and scratching grew slightly more audible. "The cucco are still in? Ingo must not be up yet." Opening the door, making his way across the hayloft and peering over the ladder, he could see most of the birds huddled around the door, pecking the ground while awaiting their chance to make a break outside to their chicken coop with the rest. Most people thought cucco were rather stupid, as there had been numerous cases to prove their low intellect. However, in reality, they didn't need to be intelligent as they merely adapted as a group much more logically than initially believed.

The birds saw Link as he began climbing down the ladder. Hearing the cock-a-doodle-doo of the rooster cuccos out in the coop brought them all to an endless amount of crowing. Talon had explained his reasoning for keeping a quarter of the hens inside during the night. Apparently, about a month ago, a Hodag, which was the bestial cousin of the dodongo, broke into the ranch. The beast resembled an alligator with no snout and spike all over its armoured hide. It had somehow managed to claw its way into the Cucco coop where it killed three of the ranch's feathery birds before Ingo heard the ruckus and succeeded in putting the monster down with a shovel and a well-placed bash to its head.

"Okay, Okay… enough with the clucking." Link said to the cucco as he climbed down the ladder, one rung at a time. Suddenly he heard the cows mooing and the horses neighing with a good morning of their own. "Oh. You're all still inside." That was plenty enough validation to the boy that he was the first one up this morning. In a sense, it was a good thing as he could do some stuff on his own in order to prove himself further to the others. Just like back when he was with Saria and the Great Deku Tree, he enjoyed getting praised and loved doing things that got him such admiration and approval. Imagining the look on Ingo, Talon and Malon's faces was ample in giving him the urge to do a few of their chores for them. "Don't worry guys and girls, Ol' Link is here."

Following the rest of his climb down, Link made his way over toward the barn door and then opened it. The cucco didn't waste any time entering freedom. As soon as the door was wide enough, their little bird feet scattered beneath them as they darted out the barn prior to immediately making their way toward the coop as if they were on a straightforward mission of the utmost importance. With that out of the way, the door was left open as Link walked all of the way through the barn toward the bigger, latched, sliding double doors that would be where the horses and cows got out. Along the way, he did a quick check on everyone, including Epona, who was extra happy to lay eyes on him.

Link's boots clomped on the wood floor of the barn during the time he used force to pry the latch from the doors. It was meant for a bigger Hylian to open, but that certainly wasn't going to stop him in any way, shape or form. As soon as the metal bar fell with a clunk, it was smooth sailing as the doors slid open with ease. "There we go. How about I give you some breakfast before you go to the corral to get the day started?" Although Link was used to specifically saying that to Epona, nearly all of the horses' ears perked up in response to the word, completely aware of its meaning. This brought Link to a bit of a chuckle as working with the animals slowly seemed to be becoming a joy to him. "Oh, so everybody's hungry, huh? You guys and gals are just eating machines."

Over in the corner, Ingo or Malon had already prepared the morning's feed in several burlap sacks. Each sack was around twice Link's own size. All that he had to do was go around giving each horse and cow their respective amount of feed.

Lifting up the bag on the left, Link noticed that it was filled with sweet feed. The mixture was a nice treat for horses. It was simple enough in complexity for their palates. The blend consists of oats, corn and barley that's then bound together with chewy molasses to make it deliciously irresistible. "Ooh, lucky-lucky." The hylian child teased as Epona, who was nearest to him, stuck her head out of the stall to see what it was. The horse's ears swiveled forward as Link continued to talk to her and everyone else while scooping a bucket-full of feed out. "You all better not get too hyper from this though." There was enough in the bucket for two horses, so he figured it shouldn't take him all that much time.

Epona turned her head toward the horse feed bucket attached to her stall as Link transferred the sweet feed. Another smile came across the boy's face as he saw hers light up. Within the next few seconds, the filly took several bites of the food with joy, prior to continuously returning to her master in a way that indicated she wanted attention. "What is it, girl?" Link asked, petting her head while she chewed her mouthful of a sugary and breakfast-like cereal made for horses. "Are you just happy to see me this morning?" Her tail was held high as she enjoyed the affection. Not that he ever deprived her of attention. If there was any animal in the world that got the most attention from him, it was Epona. It had been that way ever since he played the song dedicated to her, made by Malon, and first experienced her approach. "I think you are happy… And you're looking so pretty today too."

The equine nickered in pleasure over the compliment and official loving, stealing the focus of almost all of the stallions in the barn as well the colt that she seemed to be fond of. After stroking and combing his hand through Epona's long flowing mane, Link gave her a few more final pats on the head. "Are you ready to leave the ranch for a while today? As long as we're still going to Castle Town and provided I can go, I'll see if I can take you with me."

The horse swiveled back over to her feeding bucket with a sigh, acting as if she didn't care one way or another. "Huh? Oh, you don't care?" Link playfully asked.

Looking over at the other horses, specifically the stallions and the colt, he had a feeling that a certain someone was beginning to get back into the social league of her home herd. The new and confident Epona shaped from their minor-adventuring there in the present had gotten her noticed quite a bit. In a way, as the hylian kids would say, she got 'super popular'. Whenever he glanced back, however, she was staring directly at him with her ears facing forward. "You… Are just like a typical girl." The boy sarcastically said before resuming onwards with feeding the rest of the horses.

There wasn't a single thing hard about what he was doing. Transferring feed from one bucket to another. Most of the physical activity was walking to and from the burlap sack supplying the food. One by one, though, he gave each of the horses in their stalls a portion of sweet feed until he'd narrowed it down to one last horse, a colt who Epona had been hanging around a lot lately. "Hey there, Mélnir… I see you're still fascinated with Epona."

Despite knowing that Link was only there to feed him, even watching the hylian pour the last of the sweet feed into his bucket, the horse remained skittish. Link wished the colt would open up a little more to him. Instead, it cowered in the corner like it thinks Link was an enemy. "It's okay…" Link clicked his tongue. "Come here, I won't hurt you." No amount of encouragement would work and as the hero didn't have time to focus on training Mélnir, he shrugged it off prior to moving on.

'Now that that's done…' Link thought 'I just have to feed the cows. Then, after that, I suppose I could let the horses out in the pasture to graze… But… Until Malon or Ingo get up, I won't be able to watch them and gather eggs from the Cucco coop at the same time.' Deciding against letting the horses out yet, Link walked back over to the burlap sacks and then reached for the cow feed. From the look of it, today's breakfast for the cattle was a simple mix of corn and grains. His understanding was that, since Lon Lon Ranch generally kept its bovines for 'milk-only' purposes, it was best to not give them sweet feed as it left a strange taste to the milk.

"Umm… *Ahem*..." Ingo's gruff voice spoke from behind, making Link turn around to look at the farmhand. He looked slightly ill, as if he wasn't feeling well. With a cough and a sniffle, he went onward. "I see you're trying to take over."

Although Link wasn't a morning person when it came to dealing with people, a brief smile still registered from him. "Heck no… That's way too much responsibility. I just wanted to help out as much as I can."

Other than the barely audible mumbling, Ingo showed minor gratitude by saying "Nnn… Thanks." However, without any other signs of wanting to converse, he began to unlatch the stall doors to free the livestock, starting with Epona.

Now that Ingo was there and able to watch over the horses, Link helped let the rest of them out prior to going back and forth feeding the cows their feed. "You don't look like you're feeling very well this morning, Mr. Ingo." The boy said, wishing to know what was ailing the man.

"Hrmm?" Ingo responded questioningly "What are you talking about?"

Lifting an eyebrow, Link was skeptical why Ingo would continue to act as if he didn't know. Though, the boy wondered if perhaps the farmhand wasn't sick and that it was a mistake to assume such. Either way, Link's intent wasn't any sort of insult upon appearance. The last thing the hero was trying to do was get under Ingo's bad side. The man would probably make his life a living hell. "You just don't look like you're feeling all that well."

Along with more grumpy pout-like groans as well as moans, Ingo shrugged while Link unlatched Mélnir's gate and the others on that row. "*Nghhh*… Err… *Ughh*… I'm fine… *Nrgggaaah*… Sober, but, fine… *Nrghhh*... Never mind. I'm fine, I'm not sick… That's all that you need to know."

For a moment, Link was taken aback that Ingo would even hint at divulging such details, especially considering how Link was the one who initially confirmed the foreboding dream to be a glimpse of a future that would never be. The boy spent quite some time contemplating whether or not he should have mentioned anything about that time period to Ingo. In the end, he regretted it. Immediately after informing the farmhand, he realized that a normal hylian with nothing exceedingly special about them cannot handle the stressful truth, a truth that was already deemed too traumatic by the Goddesses. Mankind in general was better off believing that things which they cannot understand are senseless heresy. "That's… a good thing, Mr. Ingo."

Ingo chuckled sarcastically, as if he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. "Yeah… *Nnghh**Yawn*… beats drinking myself to death over a silly nightmare."

Going backward to pull open all of the stall doors, Link figured it would be best to let Ingo go with his own approach on this. If he could cope with the way things were, making sense of them by denying his knowledge and awareness on the subject, then kudos to the farmhand. Looking at it from a different perspective, in a certain way, Link figured that the entire affair might as well have all been a dream, seeing as how he changed the course of history for the better. Only through their actions, here on out, would they pave the way to their future. "That's true… Anyway, I'm going to go collect the cucco eggs from their coop. Is Malon up yet?" With the stall doors open, most of the horses gradually clomped their way out of the barn, out into the early morning sun. The only one that refused to budge was Mélnir the colt.

"Mhmm… She'll be out in a minute. I'll watch the horses till then, just stay focused." Ingo responded in a slightly harsh tone, sounding more aggravated than anything.

Again, instead of getting annoyed, Link took it in stride. He knew that being sober after a week of drinking nonstop had to be tough. The boy didn't blame Ingo for being crabby. Doing the better thing, his legs instead directed him to leave without saying another word.

However, stopping near Mélnir's stall, he saw that the colt was still there, cowering in the corner like a nervous nelly. "Mélnir? Come on, buddy… Let's go out into the corral and get started on the fresh new day." Besides seeing the horse's tail clamped between his legs, his ears stiffly twitching and the snorts he kept letting out, Link realized that Mélnir also hadn't eaten any of his sweet feed. The horse was so scared of the boy for some reason, yet Link couldn't figure out why. "Mélnir, I won't hurt you… I promise… *Tch**Tch*… Come here."

Even after Link stood back, behind the gate, the colt still wouldn't come to him. Only when Epona approached the hero did Mélnir even appear to think of the notion. Regardless, the horse's only thought was to leave his stall to get away from the hylian child. "Alright then…" Link said, giving up for good since he didn't want to terrify Mélnir. "You should at least eat your sweet feed before you leave." The colt didn't care what Link had to say though, for the moment the boy began walking off, it darted out of the stall, barely missing from ramming into Epona and then took off toward the pasture. "Geez… What's your problem, horse?"

Without anything else to do with the horses, and Ingo busy taking care of the cows, Link exited the barn with Epona following behind. Her clomping hooves were always a giveaway that she was tagging along. In this case, as always, it made Link smile to know she was so obsessive at times. All of the way across the pasture, past the corral where most of the herd was, toward the cucco coop where the clucking and feathery birds awaited, Epona stayed close behind her master like she used to do on their adventures. Only when she neighed did Link stop three-quarters of the way from his destination to see what she was doing. "Epona…" The look in her eyes, the loyalty that traveled from her gaze, was enough to make any exasperation in the boy disperse. "You know you don't have to follow me, right? I've been telling you for about a week that you can do whatever while you're here at the ranch." Her nickering revealed no sign of wanting to do anything else. "Okay… If you want to spend your time following me, I won't stop you. If there's one thing that I do want you to do, it's trying to get Mélnir to calm down."

The colt was on the complete opposite side of the corral, staying as far away from everyone as possible. A niggling in the back of Link's mind made it hard to ignore as he'd never done anything to make any of the livestock act terrified of him. To Link, animal abuse was something only Farore herself could deal with, punishing the abuser with her own righteousness. He didn't like seeing Mélnir so scared, even if he didn't have any real emotional attachment to the horse.

Epona brought Link back to reality, bumping against him as they approached the coop. Her nose poked his side. "Hey… Epona, knock it off, girl… S-Stop." With a soft chuckle, he pushed her head away. "That tickles! Go check on your beloved Mélnir. He looks like he could use you there by his side a little more than me." Seeing her raise her head up to stare at the colt, Link fully laughed as the equine huffed heavily, blowing his floppy green hat straight off of my head. Horses couldn't blush, and it was pretty unlikely that she fully understood a hylian's speech since she mainly comprehended things through body language. But, it was still pretty funny to Link to see her react in such a way. "Go on, Go… You're scaring the Cucco and don't step on any! The last thing we need is for them to be trying to seek revenge." He said playfully, pushing the horse away again. "Be a good girl and I'll take you on the trip to Castle Town."

A sharp whistle from behind was the only thing that seemed to work in getting the filly's attention off of Link. "Here ye! Here ye!" Malon's voice called out cheerfully. Every horse in the vicinity took off toward her, causing her to giggle. "All horsies gather around!"

Both of them, Malon and Link, worked on opening doors. As Malon unlatched the gate allowing access into the corral, Link focused on opening and letting the Cucco into the coop to join the rest. Epona thankfully decided to go see what the big announcement was for from Malon.

'That red haired girl is such a morning person.' Link reflected upon the girl's personality. 'It's almost like drinking a frothy cup of Gerudo Coffee just to be in her presence.' After shaking his head over the thought of Malon's bubbly personality, the first thing he did was a check of the surroundings. Walking inside the coop, from the looks of it, everything was perfectly fine. The cucco within were busy doing their own thing, mostly laying eggs. There wasn't any sign that a creature tried to break in during the night.

Several of the cucco started leaving the coop to peck at the ground outside, so it was a good hint that they were ready for their poultry feed. First though, as soon as Link grabbed a basket, he began collecting the freshly laid eggs. He'd only done this once before. Just from that single time, it was easy enough for him to figure out how to do it. The majority of the cucco were docile. As soon as approached, they would move out of the way to allow access to their nest and eggs. Over time, they'd been trained to not put up any sort of fight. In a way, other than a retained instinct to sit on the white-shelled ovals, the clucking birds had utterly lost all maternal urges for their unborn hatchlings. Sad as it may be, they made up for it by being fat and happy; something even hylians strove for.

Upon inspection of the eggs, Link had to ensure that they were of sufficient quality to meet acceptable Lon Lon standards Talon highly enforces, as if it were his only rule in the entire realm. Whether they were white or brown eggs made no difference either. 'There should be no soiled eggs added to the bunch within any time of collection.' as Talon previously said. Simply put, Link had to make sure there was no manure on it, blood and or dirt. If one was cracked, broken, or perforated, it had to be disposed of as it wasn't considered clean and healthy enough to make an attempt at digesting. Most of them were thankfully intact and edible from the looks of them.

The basket filled up quicker than assumed, until Link neared the last of the 'tamed' cucco, as they had been dubbed. Next to those more relaxed, were the feistier and wilder cucco breeds, who were all equally hard to make an attempt at gathering their eggs. "Oh boy… Here we go." After the first time, Link learned that it was literally a training session. Picking up a piece of metal sheeting, which was long leftover from the construction of the farm, he held it like it was a shield; more than ready for any ferocious attack from the mercilessly savage little beasts. "Who's going to be nice today?" As soon as he approached the first cucco sitting in her nest, she already didn't appear to be enjoying his presence in the least. Never had Link thought that a Cucco could growl, but that's the best way to describe the cross between a sustained screech and rumbling fluctuations. This cucco wasn't trained to ignore maternal instincts. With those urges coursing through her, she believed her eggs would hatch into baby chicks and intended to protect them.

'Hmm…' Staring at the nest, there were two eggs visible just enough for him to take notice. 'It looks like she's laid at least a couple.' She was a broody hen, and Link was positive taking her eggs wouldn't be easy to do. However, without any other option, he made him move with an added distraction to throw off her interest in his hand. Not one bit did the bird appreciate it whenever the hylian boy lightly tapped the metal he held against the nesting box. Like a deranged maniac, the hen jumped up and rushed forward, pecking at the shield with all of her might as her wings flapped wildly; all of it was enough to disturb most of the other Cucco in the coop. "Gah! Geez! What's your problem!?" As it continued attacking Link, he used the opportunity to reach out and grab all of her eggs from the nest. Placing the eggs in the basket with the rest, it seemed like he'd managed to fool her. He couldn't have been further from right, though as she figured out what was happening and flew down from the nesting box. "Whoa! Whoa!"

Before Link could react, the hen landed several pecks on his exposed shins. More than anything, the sharp blow to his ego was much more painful than anything happening physically. Getting beaten up by a cucco was hilarious when it's the Hero of Time taking the licking. Fortunately for his self-esteem, he succeeded in lowering the sheet of metal. With his victory, he felt safe enough to gloat while listening to the bird poke the metal. "Aha! See? It didn't have to be that hard…" As temporarily comical and disastrous as it was, seeing the lunatic of a cucco abruptly turn to make a break toward the egg basket, Link was only able to stand in disbelief, watching as she attempted to take back her eggs. "No way!" Link soon shouted prior to jumping to the side in order to lift the basket. Then, without his focus on guarding himself, the hen turned the tables yet again by resuming her series of pokes, all while growling furiously. If she could, the cucco would likely try to gouge his eyes out right now. "What is wrong with you!? Get back! Bad! Bad Cucco! Evil Cucco!"

With a shrill screech, the hen rampaged toward Link until the boy decided to turn tail and run. "For the love of the Goddesses!" The bird wasn't giving in, not in the least. All the way through the coop she followed him until she literally chased him out of the door. Knowing that she was likely to try this, Link swiftly closed the door to end the pursuit. However, the racket on the other side meant that she didn't care. She was so angry over him stealing her eggs that she was trying her hardest to peck straight through that door so she could have another go at the hylian child.

"The Hero of Time, defeated by a bird." Link murmured prior to hearing a soft giggle from behind him. The only person on the ranch who giggled was Malon, so he didn't have much trouble figuring out that it was her. Even though he wanted to collect all of the eggs from the coop, he had a feeling that he'd accumulated enough and that the farmgirl would have to take over for him.

"Having trouble?" Malon asked as Link turned around to face her.

He pretended to ignore the constant pecking sound from the otherside of the coop door. "Malon… Ehe, hey… Good morning. No, I'm not having that much trouble; just dealing with a mean untrained cucco who's really-really angry about me taking her babies." Link had certainly fought much worse than a pissed off cucco and received far more grave injuries than a pecking, but he had to admit to anyone that it didn't feel pleasant, bad enough to leave bruises or even, at times, welts.

She merely rolled her eyes as if she'd done this so many times that she wasn't even bothered by getting attacked. "Did you take the fake egg again?" She asked while inspecting the basket filled with white as well as brown Cucco eggs.

Only when the red-headed hylian girl lifted a smaller, frail, glass egg from within the basket did Link fully remember what she was talking about. Making the same mistake as the first time was pretty embarrassing, especially when it was over something as simple as this. The fake egg was a method of training for the wild cucco who weren't conditioned to the ranch's regulations. Its purpose was to be left behind in the nest so that the mother hen would always believe she had one egg left, leaving her to attempt to protect it instead of fighting a picker to the death to try and get all of her eggs back.

"Yep…" Malon said while showing the artificial egg. "Do you remember why we leave these behind in the untrained section?"

Nodding his head, it made Link a tad flustered to have to sit through a miniature lecture from a girl his own age. Regardless of how uncomfortable it was, he still responded respectfully seeing as how it was he who made the same mistake for the second time. "To give the cucco something to come back to."

Accompanied with a smile, Malon grabbed the sheet of metal and then walked past Link. That usual scent of thyme drifted by him, trailing behind her. She smelled a lot better than the scent of cucco feces and horse manure, which often emanated from the ranch. Link couldn't help other than to notice. "That's right…" She replied to his statement while opening the coop door. The vicious cucco went wild at first sight. Heedlessly, Malon entered with the sheet of metal then dropped the fake egg. The mother Cucco lunged forward, grabbed her false egg and then took off back to her nest like a demented bat out of hell. All that Link could do was shake his head though. It was humiliating to have only had to do something so simple in order to avoid the entire situation he just encountered. "There, see? That's all that you had to do… Other than forgetting again, you did pretty good."

'Pretty good wasn't what I had in mind. I wanted to really impress them today…' Shrugging off the embarrassment, Link resumed gathering the last of the eggs as Malon helped him. Besides a few angry pecks and squawks, none of the other birds were even close to as ill-tempered as the first. In no time at all, they were done collecting. All Link had to do was spread some cucco feed outside the coop so they could have food. Since Malon assisted in collecting eggs like she had, he was positive now that it was going to be him who did as much as possible around there; even more so, with high hopes, than Ingo.

As obvious as it was, Malon took immediate notice of Link's haste as he rushed to grab the feed bag before she did. "Whoa… Link, you know it isn't a competition to see who finishes first, right?"

To throw off any suspicion on his behalf, Link added a soft chuckle while smiling. "I know… I know, I just really want to help everybody out. All of you have been so incredibly nice to me that it's the least I could do… I don't mind either." Malon's expression initially confused him as she seemed to be slightly worried. It soon changed into gratitude and he was left with his duties as a ranch hand.

"Are you sure you're not just trying to get on our good sides so we'll let you come with us to Castle Town today?" She teased.

Link smirked as he tossed a few handfuls of cucco feed onto the ground; the further spread, the better. "Oh, you guys are going to Castle Town? Hmm, I wasn't aware… But, sure, I'd love to be able to go with you."

Malon giggled before playfully nudging the boy, bumping her left arm against his right. "Very funny, Link… I talked to Daddy about it and he was fine with it, as long as you don't cause any trouble. You still hafta help out with everything that needs to be delivered."

"Of course I'll help out. It's my job." Link replied.

The cucco came out of the coop to get their fill of feed. First came the top of the pecking order, the strongest and superior ate first, chasing off the lower-ranking cucco when they dare approached. One male in particular was the highest. He'd flap his wings violently, making a loud clapping sound with them in order to let everyone know that he was the boss. As soon as he and his buddy birds were done, the younger or weaker cucco emerged from hiding to peck up the remains. Following another toss of feed, Link sealed the bag, put it back and then lifted the bucket of eggs. Everything there was done and now it was time to return with the fruits of their labours for a well-deserved breakfast. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah… Come on, let's get inside so Dad can fry up some omelets." She answered.

Along the way toward the farmhouse, Link's stomach gurgled to remind him that he was still hungry. That bite of apple from earlier was not nearly enough to sustain a growing boy such as himself. Malon heard it too. Both of them were a bit hungry that morning and it made them laugh.

"Race you to the farmhouse!" She shouted in advance of running.

To Link, a race seemed silly since he'd probably end up breaking some of the eggs if he ran. Jostling around the basket too much wasn't a good idea. "Hey! Wait, I can't run with eggs!" She only laughed harder while still running. At that point, he decided to go with the flow and chased after her while still keeping the basket of eggs steady.

"That's the real challenge!" She spun around to jokingly stick her tongue out at him.

Link couldn't manage to do much other than to keep focus to make sure no eggs fell from the basket. Although, he did have another moment, another lapse of reasoning while in pursuit of the fiery red-haired girl. His blue eyes remained utterly fixated on Malon, far more so than the basket. The way his retinas tracked her was almost as if she was one giant magnet. All of the events of getting attacked by a nasty cucco were erased, only to be filled in his memories upon the remembrance of her hair.

"Come on, slowpoke!" She chirped gleefully "The last one there's a rotten egg!"

Upon hearing the word egg, Link's attention immediately shifted down to the basket. They were all intact, without any cracks from the look of them. Unfortunately, looking back, it seems that he'd dropped about two on his journey; which, were now splattered onto the ground, smashed to pieces from the impact of the fall. 'Dammit!' The hero's inner-self said. This time, he held his hand over the basket of eggs, keeping them safe and from any possibility of slipping out. The entire way up to the house, he was a lot more worried about them noticing those eggs than losing the race to Malon.

"Someone's a rotten egg!" Malon sang in a beautiful voice, despite it being a severe taunt directed straight at him.

"If it wasn't for these eggs, I'd totally have won!" Link shouted back playfully. Though serious, she still ran a lot faster than he thought she could. Nonetheless, he knew better to think in a sexist manner; for Impa would literally tear his ear off. He envisioned it as such. No matter where she was at the time, he imagined the Sheikah nanny appearing next to him just to do that. If there's any woman who was a thousand times better than a male soldier, it was Impa.

"Na-NaNa-BooBoo! You lose!" Malon said cockily while opening the door to the farmhouse.

Following the second it took for Link to catch up, he heard Talon's stern voice pipe up from within the home. "Nah-Ah! No runnin'!"

Both of them came to a halt, but wound up laughing at each other as they took a brief rest period to catch their breaths. "Sorry…" Malon and Link spoke in unison prior to Link's announcement. "I got all of the eggs from the Cucco coop, Mr. Talon."

Talon took them and then gave Link a couple of pats on his head, which nearly knocked the boy's hat off. "Good work… Did yah' remember to leave that fake egg in there this time?"

Thinking back to how angry that cucco was whenever he took all her eggs, the only thing that Link could seem to do was stutter. He knew that if he told Talon that I'd forgotten, twice, the big man would probably laugh heartily before giving a lecture. Just prior to the second Link opened his mouth, Malon jumped in the conversation to save the day. "Of course he did, Daddy! He's not going to make the same mistake twice."

Talon grinned and then took the basket of eggs over to the kitchen. "Good job. If that's the case, then yah can git on over 'ere and help me cook… One of these days, yer' be doin' it instead of me… Harr-Harr!"

Link felt guilty for getting to do something when he technically didn't deserve it. On the other hand, he engraved it in his brain, making sure that he'd never ever forget about the fake eggs in the cucco coop again. There wouldn't be a third time he'd make that mistake.

In the meantime, the hero admired his surroundings. The farmhouse kitchen was rather unique. Since the Lon Lon family set it up for long-term use, it was fairly sophisticated and of decent quality. The layout was simple, with counters wrapping around the walls of the room before halting by the diagonal fireplace in the right hand corner. First, was the water keg, which was on the left side. Then, next to that, was the rinse basin. In the middle of the counters was a series of jars as well as a spice rack which contained many seasonings that the boy had never even heard of. That wasn't a surprise though as the Kokiri enjoyed the taste of things being 'all natural'. However, the fireplace was the kitchen's true flaming glory. As mentioned, it was diagonal, allowing them easier access than if it wasn't. Most of it was stone, except for a cast iron grate, the cauldron and its hooks. The fireplace used wood, so it always left a pleasantly smoked taste to anything cooked using it.

"Alright… Pay attention, 'cause I'm only gonna go over this once." Talon said as he grabbed a frying pan from off of the counter. After placing it directly in the center of the iron grate, he then proceeded to make use of some flint and steel. It took him several strikes before a spark jumped onto a piece of dried hay, which was being used as tender; soon igniting around three pieces of wood. "Look 'ere." He said, prior to pulling a small lever from the side of the fireplace. Preceding a clank sound, Link saw a round hole reveal itself from underneath the logs. The logs had been positioned in a way where they didn't risk falling in the hole. Only the dehydrated hay fell in. Momentarily, using judgment, Link figured that it was some form of trash chute. Before he could confirm such speculations, however, he witnessed its true purpose as a glow illuminated from beneath. "Guess what it is?"

Malon rolled her eyes as Talon looked back at Link questioningly. "Daddy… Must you literally brag about our kitchen to everyone that enters the ranch? I know it's the most important and expensive part of the farmhouse, bu-…"

Talon interrupted by saying. "Darlin', I'm just tryin' to show em how things work around 'ere."

Regardless of the father and daughter bickering, Link knew what it was. He'd seen the design in Gerudo Fortress. "It's a cinder pit."

Both of them looked at Link until Talon replied "That's right, but, did yah know that it's Des-…"

Along with a smirk, to surprise the farmer, Link chose to cut him off this time with his own response. "Desert Fire-Slag? It's customary for Gerudo to own at least one bag of it. They really love the flavor it gives food and if I may say, I do too."

Talon merely stood in shock, with his mouth ajar, before coming too with a hearty laugh. Malon still seemed to be stunned that Link knew the answer. Meanwhile, as Talon wrapped his arm around the boy, the logs blazed on, gradually providing enough warmth in tandem with the desert fire-slag pit to heat up the frying pan. "Well… I'll be! Looks like someone's been studyin' the gerudo lately."

Link wasn't entirely sure as to what to do or say. The only thing that made any sense was telling the truth. "Uhh… No, not really."

The frying pan crept closer to being ready as it began to faintly glow red in the center. Off to the side, Malon had started moving again. She did prep work in getting plates together. "Ooh?" Talon inquired. "Then, yah must've met up with some foxy woman in Castle Town… Gerudo love findin' handsome men to show a good time, and yer turnin' into quite the strappin' young lad! Bwar-Harr-Harr!"

Thinking back to how Nabooru, the second-in-command of the gerudo tribe, wanted to 'reward' Link for finding the Silver Gauntlets, he wasn't surprised to hear this joke. Despite that, it wasn't any less embarrassing to consciously concern himself with. Malon didn't like the idea either as she gave him a glance that told him everything he needed to know about how she felt. Luckily, in this case, both of Talon's options were wrong. If only the deep blush on Link's face would go away, he'd probably be much better at explaining. "IT… It's not like that! I've visited Gerudo Fortress, so I've seen their culture."

Both Talon and Malon stopped what they were doing and proceeded to stare at Link for a moment, different from last time; as if, they were more than just surprised. Before the hero could get out another word, however, Talon broke out into laughter while Malon merely looked away. "Harr-Harr-Harr! Oh, boy… Yah gotta quit playin' make believe. Yer' gettin' to be too old for fantasy and such… Ha!..." The farmer cleared his throat prior to continuing "But, seriously, son. Yah should stay in reality, where Malon is."

Malon growled in self-conscious frustration as she picked up an egg from the basket. "Daddy! You better stop teasing us before I throw this at you!" Malon was bravely brash toward her father at times, especially when it involved two things; work and boys.

Talon didn't seem to mind though. He just laughed and kept teasing his daughter. "What!? I'm just sayin' darlin'! Haha!"

After Malon held up the egg to show she was serious, Talon finally regained his focus on making their breakfast. One thing that Link thought about the heavyset farmer, for a guy who was rather serious about putting away a serious amount of food during every meal of the day, he sure got distracted easily while making it. "Okay! Okay! Don't make no mess!" Following a bit more laughter, the big man pulled a wooden bowl from beneath a cabinet and began cracking eggs, adding up to seven into it. "Now… All yah got to do, is put enough eggs in to make yah a decent sized omelette. We'll use seven since there's four of us eatin'. 'Ere, Link… Stir these up, whisk it as good as yah can."

The raw eggs were fairly sickly looking in comparison to the final product. But, thinking about the fluffy eggy goodness of a mouthful of cooked omelette was enough to make Link forget about its original slimy appearance. Seeing that Talon wanted him to do it was kind of a surprise. LInk didn't expect the man to want him to assist in cooking their meal. Nevertheless, the boy didn't complain. Instead, he took the bowl from Talon and used a wooden spoon to stir it slowly, as if it were some pot of boiling potion. He might not have known what a whisk was, but he tried figuring it out one way or another. "Like this?"

The eggs shifted around the spoon without doing much other than mixing into each other's uncooked egg white. "No-No…" Talon responded. "Much faster... Yah just hafta make sure not to slop any out on the floor."

The faster Link went, the more the eggs seemed to mix together until the yolks began breaking, allowing all of it to slowly take on a solid yellow colour. His wrist tired sooner than predicted and Talon simply stared for a while before taking the bowl back and then resuming where the little hero had left off, beating it for another minute. "Not bad…" Talon praised. "Just remember, go in a leanin' upright circle, not a flat circle."

The technique used was only slightly different, so Link wasn't sure if it really mattered or not. Taking into account that he knew little to nothing about cooking food found outside the Forbidden Forest, the boy decided that the best option was to listen to the man that weighed three times more than him. Talon had been cooking much longer. If Link wanted to be on a normal Hylian diet, without Saria bringing him food, he'd have to learn the arts of culinary exploration. "Yes sir." The hero replied.

Talon stopped stirring to walk over, grab and then sprinkle some salt as well as a bit of ground black pepper into the raw eggs. "Then, once it's mostly mixed, yah add in a tad of flavorin' to suit yer' taste." He suddenly groaned as his fingers scraped at the salt in the salt box he held. "Ughh… Darn friggin' salt gettin' all clumped up. Someone should really make somethin' that's like a-… a de-cakin' substance that keeps it from stickin' together." After enough salt was added to the bowl, all of the ingredients got churned together before being poured into the glowing hot cast-iron frying pan. The sizzling of it made everyone's stomach want to digest themselves in hunger.

"Be sure to pour it in the middle." Talon continued to explain what the steps were to cooking an omlette. "Yah want it to spread out fairly evenly." In this case, however, with there being so many eggs to make a decent sized omelette for the four of them, the soon to be cooked mixture formed a perfect circle from the shape of the frying pan. The next few minutes were pretty quiet except for the hissing of the dying fire. Only when the farmer used a cast iron spatula to flip the omelette onto its other side did he resume speaking. "Alright… We're almost done. Once the first side, the one on the pan, is done, yah have to flip it half of it. Now is also a good time to put scrapins' of cheese on it."

Malon, who had been standing idly, joined in without Talon even needing to do so. She knew where everything was, so all she did was open a cabinet. Inside was an entire truckle (wheel) of yellow cheese. Only a cut of it was removed for this recipe.

"Link…" Talon said while positioning a small pair of accordion bellows on the ground by the fire. "Do yah know how to use one of these?"

Link realized that Talon had chosen his words a little more carefully this time. The big farmer wanted to see if the boy was aware of more than the man initially assumed. He was testing Link in an inquisitive way. "Sure… But, I hope you haven't been stepping on those." The experienced hero replied while picking up the pair of bellows. "These are actually hand bellows, not foot bellows."

Malon giggled prior to it becoming a full blown laugh. "I told you, Daddy! That's two things I'm right about; one, Link's a lot smarter than he looks…"

It took Link a second to get that leg-puller. "Hey!" he barked with a pout

The farmgirl giggled again and resumed. "And, two, those are not foot bellows!"

Talon was once again surprised, but not shocked. He was glad Link knew. Maybe, in a way, the boy really did impress him a bit with what a ten year old could know. "He-he! Well, I'll be! Go on then, give the fire a bit of a boost."

With the giddy farmer's encouragement, Link pulled the two grips on the bellows outward, expanding the accordion with air prior to pushing the grips back together inward, forcing a focused gush of air into the fireplace. The fresh oxygen provided the ill fire with extra life; just enough to keep the frying pan at the same temperature throughout the process of cooking.

"Alright, Malon… Shave some cheese on there." Talon ordered as the embers of Gerudo Desert Fire-Slag glowed brightly.

Link had never seen a cheese grater before, yet he figured out how it worked by watching them use it. Malon used a small device on the countertops to do so. The square box-like mechanism didn't take long for her to use either. She simply grinded it back and forth, shredding the piece of cheese down to about half of its original size. With that, sliding the bottom compartment out to retrieve the cheese shavings, she transferred and sprinkled them onto the omelette.

"Excellent." Talon spoke, prior to folding the omelette in half, giving it the signature look that everyone recognized. "'Ere we go… Just gotta flip this one more time…" Talon used the spatula to flip the omelette over onto its opposite side. Following half a minute of pressing down on it, he removed the frying pan from the fireplace stove. "All done… Link, yah need to push that lever on the side of the fireplace to close the cinder pit. Could yah do that for me?"

Although the food was ready, Malon didn't seem to be quite done yet as she put together plates for everyone. Link had seen it done before, so he wasn't confused when she grabbed four pieces of bread. As per hylian tradition, when bread gets old enough to harden and it is still edible, they can be used as plates.

The boy nodded in response to what was asked of him in advance of pushing the lever up, causing the door to seal itself closed over the Desert Fire-Slag, thus snuffing it out. Most of the wood that had been placed inside of the pit was already charred down to ashes. But, the good thing about Desert Fire-Slag is that it produces a much longer burn, constantly creating heat while being reusable if extinguished before it had been utterly incinerated.

"Good job. Yer' gonna be a fine assistant cook until yah begin cookin' on yer' own." Talon praised again.

The compliment was taken honourably on Link's end as he was happy to see how hylians cooked in more detail than he'd previously seen. Kokiri used much-much less tools and devices for their meals, and the few times he'd been in a hylian kitchen, he was far too famished to take notice of how they prepared their, oftentimes, complex cuisine. "I enjoyed learning…" The hungry young boy replied as Ingo made his way inside the farmhouse, sniffing the air in slight hunger. "It definitely beats hunting for my food, like I used to do."

Malon rolled her eyes and then curled her lips in disgust, not liking the thought of catching critters and roasting them over an open fire. "Ughh… That's so nasty."

Link just laughed at the girl's squeamish nature, having grown ever-accustomed to the act of hunting, skinning and cooking simple meals during his period as the Hero of Time. "Oh, come on… It's no worse than cooking one of the cows for beef."

Talon abruptly agreed with the boy, proving that he actually was listening to them even while focusing on serving up the omelette onto large pieces of stale bread "Yer' right, there wouldn't be a difference… Regardless, we don't commonly cook our cattle. They're mostly for dairy purposes."

Now that Link thought about it, he realized that Talon was right. Only very rarely does the public see Lon Lon Beef. In fact, it's so uncommon that people often paid double the price, just in an attempt to make sure they got it instead of anyone else. Bearing that in mind, he was curious why there wasn't more. He guessed that it was a hard thing to do when they're animal lovers like they are. In reality, Talon didn't have the funds to attempt such a thing. It would require quadruple the workers they had and would cost thousands in rupees to feed the cattle needed to go big. "Have you ever thought about getting into the business of making beef from cattle? Surely you'd make a lot of rupees if you did."

As Talon shook his head in response to Link's question, Ingo made himself useful by pouring them all a cup of fresh Lon Lon Milk. "I, myself, 'ave personally considered it. However, Malon and her mother were always quite against it… Plus, now that we got things set up the way we do, I wouldn't have it any other way."

The boy's theory on the Lon Lon family not being able to be butchers was confirmed. On the other hand, he assumed that they had managed themselves well enough the way they were. "How about growing crops?" He asked, curious if they could handle cultivating a series of produce like the Kokiri do. 'I could help with that' He even thought.

With all of the food on the table and their drinks ready, all of them sat down, except for Talon who continued doing work around the kitchen as he placed the frying pan over by the wash basin for later cleaning. Only whenever he joined them at the table did he nod in response to Link's question. "Yeah… I've thought about it a lot. There's just one problem though… I don't know enough to maintain them like Naji-… Uhh… L-Look, I'm no green thumb and we aint' got the knowledge or a good 'nough water source to create a decent irrigation system."

Malon, who had been eating, jerked her head up whenever she heard her father nearly say her mother and his late wife's name. It seemed as though the deceased woman was still a hard subject to discuss, even if merely in reference. The fact that Talon all of the sudden jumped to the conclusion meant that the conversation was over. Link could and would respect that as well.

For the time being, Link was fine with eating his breakfast in peace. A fresh glass of Lon-Lon Milk, a cheesy omelette and a bread plate would be perfect to hit the spot on starting the day. As he began eating, he still wondered if they would let him go to Castle Town with them. If not, he decided he could always sneak off to go there myself. However, since he was planning to stay there with them like some sort of foster family, he knew he should probably go by their rules. To his surprise, it felt great to have a bit of structure again. Everyone in the family had his thanks. 'Plus…' He thought as he bit into the omelette AND the bread plate. 'They make some mighty delicious meals.'

.

[Time: 1:18 P.M. (Afternoon)]

[Location- Hyrule, Hyrule Field - Lon Lon Ranch]

.

The time had finally arrived where Talon and Malon were just shy of being ready to depart for Castle Town. Ingo had prepared their delivery wagon for transport as it awaited idly by the barn's double doors. The farmhand was staying behind to tend to the ranch in the owner's absence. Thankfully, he'd given them Petey and Dixie to pull the wagon with. Ingo's decision on that was agreed upon by Malon, with their plan being to let Dixie, the older and wiser of the two, show Petey exactly how it's done. Talon simply had to finish loading all of the cargo into the back of the wagon for transport and then they were ready to leave.

As for Link, he was waiting silently. Both Talon and Malon were aware that he wanted to accompany them along the way. There wasn't any reason why he couldn't, at least, not that he knew of. To please the two farmers, he had even done twice of the work around the ranch that he had done yesterday. Keeping that in mind, he didn't need to ask; his actions spoke for him.

Amusingly, Epona mimicked him in regards to wanting to leave the ranch. With wide eyes and several neighs, she was determined to get her owner's attention and to keep it. She wanted to go with them, or more specifically, she wanted to go with Link, wherever that be.

When Link acknowledged the antsy equine, she trotted over to him with high expectations. Only then did he break his silence to praise his horse just for being such a gorgeous filly. "There's my pretty girl. Are you looking to get out of the ranch today?" More neighs ensued from her in response as Link gave her several strokes down her wind-blown mane. "Yeah? I bet you want to feel the freedom of the great wide open." She was always so happy to be with him. It warmed his heart like butter on toast when she got so affectionate. Nipping at his floppy green hat and brushing up against him while he kept grooming her, the hero must have gotten caught up in the moment as, the next thing he knew, Malon called him rather loudly.

"Link!" The red-headed girl shouted, making the boy turn his head to see both her and Talon sitting up on the wagon's steering seat. "Daddy's talking to you."

Instantly, he apologized for not hearing. To think he got so wrapped up in focusing on Epona that he missed what he was hoping and waiting for. "I'm sorry, Mr. Talon… Forgive me. Please say what you were saying again."

Talon's hearty smirk plastered its way across his face before he replied. "I was just sayin', yah could come with us if yah want. To be honest, I was gonna let yah stay here with Ingo to finish up some more chores… But… Well… Yah plum did them all before I could say anythin' about it. Harr-Harr!"

A smile of Link's own stayed lifted on his lips as he laughed in return, rubbing the back of his neck in minor discomfort as well. "Thanks… I kind of wanted to go, so I was hoping you would notice."

They shared a bit more laughter prior to Talon resuming what he was saying from before. "I noticed… Yah did a good job, Link. The only thing is, yer' gonna 'ave to ride Epona, because the wagon's seat is only big 'nough for two. I think Malon's gettin' a bit too big to sit in my lap too."

Malon only rolled her eyes at the thought until Link replied. "That's not a problem at all! Epona actually looks like she'd love to get out for some exploring." Upon hearing them, the equine figured out that something was happening and thus grew excited with perky ears and her tail held high. "Did you hear that, girl? Come on, let's get your saddle on you."

Ingo popped out of nowhere and Link almost ran into him. "Whoa now…" The farmhand said while putting a saddle on Epona for the hero. It was the saddle specifically designed for her. "Here you go. I've got it all ready for you."

The fact that Ingo had it already, before Talon even said anything to Link, proved that they were likely planning to let the boy go from the beginning. If that was the case, he should feel a bit ashamed of himself for thinking that he'd simply go on his own if he didn't get what he wanted. "Oh… Thanks, Ingo."

Ingo rolled his eyes prior to turning around and walking back inside of the barn. "Whatever… Have fun. Don't die."

The farmhand's sulky demeanour was as common as a breeze in the springtime. Link had gotten used to it. There wasn't much of any use in trying to cheer him up either. Link found that the best thing to do is to go along with whatever the farmhand said, even if it seemed a bit rude at times. "I'll have fun… I'll bring you back a present too." The smirk on the side of Ingo's face was the last thing he saw before the man disappeared around the corner.

At first, the hero wasn't sure if he should mount Epona right then. The gates might not be open yet. However, before he could even ask, Talon whipped the reins to get Petey and Dixie moving. "Yaa! Yaa! Mount up, Link! Yer' closin' the gate behin' us!"

The little hero felt a bit of energy surge through him for a moment, just enough to get him excited. His feet couldn't handle the wait and soon took off toward Epona. Although he didn't have them, Link had grown so accustomed to having them on his body that his hands automatically checked for his sword and shield before he remembered that he didn't have them on him. Following that reality check, he managed to climb up on Epona without any problem at all. The filly neighed in response until her owner gently clicked the heel of his boots against her sides to get her moving. "Gallop!"

The horse reared up, forcing Link to hold on in advance of taking off full speed. "Come on, girl, let's pass them! I know you're ten times faster than any other horse in the ranch, especially two that are pulling a wagon!" Regardless of whether or not she understood, she did as her master told her and proved he was right by soon passing the delivery wagon with Talon and Malon riding in front.

In just a few short seconds, after going down the small path of the plateau upon which the farm was built, they passed the gates, which were wide open. Using the reins attached to Epona's bridle, Link directed her to the side as quickly as possible. The wagon came down the path within the next minute and he momentarily dismounted to close the gate behind them. It was more or less for keeping the ranch's livestock inside than for keeping anything or anyone out. Then again, it did provide a bit of an early detection as the rattling of the metal the gate was constructed out of would alert Ingo of their return or an uninvited visitor.

"Alright!" With Link'd energy level still at a peak, he ran back to Epona and literally jumped up onto her saddle. "Let's go!" The horse loved his excitement too, for she took off running full speed until they caught up with the wagon. Today was gorgeous as well. A blue sky took the place of the heavens. Dotted with a few measly sparse clouds and accompanied by a cool breeze, it had all the implications for being a terrific day for springtime. Link found it felt good to be out in the sunshine again. 'The light always feels brighter the wider the area you're in.'

There wasn't any traffic on the road either. Usually, there were two carriages that went back and forth from Castle Town, to Kakariko Village, to Ordona and the South Warrens. It was in-between the time at which they were in transport. Thankfully, there did appear to be a bit of activity further out by the entrance of the Gerudo Valley, so it wasn't completely desolate.

As soon as Link caught up to the left side of the delivery wagon, Epona slowed down ever so slightly, aiming to stay alongside Dixie. Malon seemed as relaxed as ever, going so far as to casually read a book next to Talon. Talon was focused on the road. "Thanks for inviting me along, Mr. Talon." Link showed further appreciation. "I know I won't be of much use if we get ambushed by bandits, especially without my sword and shield. But, I wanted to go to Castle Town for a while."

Malon briefly glanced up at Link questioningly, likely wondering why he'd worry about bandits, before Talon replied. "It's no problem. I just don't want either of yah causin' no trouble for nobody while I'm makin' the delivery to the royal family… In fact, I'll give yah some rupees so ya'll can do somethin'."

Kokiri and hylian girls had something else in common; as soon as they had the opportunity to get their hands on a few rupees, they tuned out everything to pay attention. For Malon, she had already expressed her own feelings toward shopping, to which she is a big fan of doing, as if it were some sort of strange hobby or even competition. It wasn't that boys like Link weren't interested in looking around for something to buy. Nonetheless, it bored him to sleep, Saria and Malon's evident favourite; window shopping.

"How much are we talking about, Daddy?" Malon asked with a sweet voice to butter her father up.

Talon only smirked in response. "The same amount yah usually get, sweetheart."

Malon rolled her eyes and shook her head while pouting. "But… But, Daaaaddddy! I need sixty rupees to get that dress I really-really-really want! You know I'm not that into fashion, but this is one I want! I must have it!"

The farmgirl's father simply disregarded her pleading, passing it off like a dad who'd heard it all and wasn't about to change his plans. "Sorry, hon'… Quit buyin' so many books and save up."

The look on Malon's face was priceless as she almost seemed like she was going to flip her lid for a minute until she released a loud sigh. "Ughh! Fine… Sheesh…"

Talon snickered in amusement, which only ticked his daughter off further as he draped his right arm across her, using his left hand to hold both the pair of reins. "Cheer up… I'm just teachin' yah to learn how to save yer' money to get things yah want. Spendin' it all at once ain't a sound way to earn a livin'."

She grumbled more as he pulled her closer to him, getting her to lean against him. "Alright… I understand."

For the next couple of minutes, they rode in silence, without any noise other than the clomping of horse hooves and the creaking of the wagon's wheels. Link didn't particularly mind the quiet, yet he would have preferred to strike up a conversation. Like it or not, he kept to himself as, honestly, he couldn't think of a thing to say. His mind began to drift toward future planning; a technique he'd learned from being the Hero of Time. 'There's a certain someone in Castle Town that I have to pay a visit to; top priority… Other than that, Captain Orsen might help me out to an extent. Since he's a high ranking official in the Hyrulean Royal Guard, he could perhaps answer some questions I have in regards to Termina's possible existence.'

Pushing the honourable captain aside, Link's thoughts momentarily returned to the 'certain someone'. The Happy Mask Salesman, whose name was self-explanatory to the mysterious hylian's life and career, was almost considered an anomaly by him now. The man was the lone white cloud of sanity amongst a back-sheeted thunderstorm of blackness there in that place, world and/or time. The Happy Mask Salesman was the only person in Termina, besides himself, to be seemingly the same being as who resided there, in Hyrule. The man went by the same name and did the same thing as he does here, unlike everybody else in that land. In fact, he was the only person there who knew of and spoke of Hyrule, not passing it off as gibberish like Anju and Kafei or Romani and Cremia, residents of Termina. 'If he makes any reference to Termina, I'm going to freak out… All of this time, I'm being told that Termina doesn't exist, yet I was there and it felt so real.' Link couldn't help other than to doubt himself as well as anyone else who tried to dismiss his adventures as fantasy. He was forced to remember the time of seven years in the future, for he couldn't possibly allow himself to forget; never. So, in a way, he didn't want to let Termina suffer the same fate of obliviousness.

'If, assuming he tells me the exact same thing as everyone else, that Termina doesn't exist or he's never heard of such a place, then I'll have no choice other than to accept it as reality. I wouldn't necessarily forget Termina, but I would have to come to the conclusion that it wasn't a physical place.' The only problem was with how vivid everything was. If it wasn't a location, then, it could only be in his mind, where he dreamt or imagined it. Objecting to everything is the fact that, one, he didn't have such a wild and explorative imagination, and two, other than the premonitions crammed into his mind by the Golden Goddesses, he'd never had a dream so realistic and memorable. 'Wait… Could it be that it was some sort of premonition as well? Or, something along the lines of what Ingo experienced with recalling something that hasn't happened yet?'

Now he was starting to get lost in his thoughts again, just like every other time he attempted to think about the subject. Everything was so beyond his semi-childish comprehension that it felt futile at times to contemplate. The blood vessels in his head seemed to throb in frustration, bringing back the common sensation of a well-hated migraine. "Ughh… Why must I be so torn?" Link grumbled to himself, barely loud enough for Epona to hear, who swiveled her ears back for a moment as if she was listening. The horse seemed to be having a blast. At least she wasn't worried about anything. The funny thing was, Link occasionally felt like he could learn a lesson or two from the filly. He should relax for now and deal with his problems when the time comes. 'I'm not a hero anymore; I'm not the Hero of Time.' Despite having once been, there's no more need for him to prepare ahead of time as if some impending doom was still lingering above head.

"Almost there!" Talon suddenly shouted, whipping the reins to get Petey and Dixie moving a little faster. "First thin' first, we gotta' deliver the milk, cheese and butter to the stores in the Market Place."

As they approached the outer walls of Castle Town, several hyrulean guards on patrol around the top of the rampart took note of the wagon and hollered out to one another, letting everyone know of their presence. The drawbridge was already down, extending over the moat, which was in all actuality Zora River. Whatever they were saying, it was probably in excitement over the thought of another batch of Lon Lon goods. The closer the wagon got, they did happen to overhear one of them yelling, but it was only to the people in the streets below in the Marketplace.

"MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY! DELIVERY WAGON COMING THROUGH!" Whichever guard shouted certainly had a good booming voice to him, as everyone heard him and from ahead, moved out of the way.

For some reason, Link found it slightly humorous to watch the town react so quickly, as the group hadn't even gone over the drawbridge yet. Only whenever they reached the drawbridge did the boy realize fully as to why. Epona was forced to slow down and hang back as the gatehouse was only big enough for the delivery wagon to fit through, not both of them at once. The wagon clattered and jolted upward as it rolled over the drawbridge. Thankfully, however, the roughness didn't matter as Talon had secured everything with a rope.

When the delivery wagon passed through the gatehouse, Link was then free to get Epona across the drawbridge and inside the city walls. He didn't plan to go as far as Talon and Malon were, as he was about to turn left into the stables, ran by a Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy, who would board Epona until he returned to get her.

Just before he was about to turn, Talon shouted from ahead "It's okay, Link! Bring 'er up here!"

Following a moment to realize that he didn't have any rupees on him to pay for Epona's caretaking, Link shrugged and then motioned for the equine to keep going. They passed by another guard as well as the guardhouse before going into the center plaza of Castle Town, known informally as The Market due to it being the main location of all the stores and stalls in the city. The area was populated as usual, with people going about their normal day-to-day urban lives. Most citizens continued to move out of the way as Link and the others circled around the plaza fountain, soon stopping near the entrance of the Castle's Courtyard.

Since Link had never been with Talon during a delivery, he was surprised whenever a couple of people ran up to the wagon as if they were bouncing in excitement. "Mr. Talon! Mr. Talon!" One middle-aged Hylian garbed in a thin white shirt and green britches announced as the heavyset ranch owner jumped down from the wagon, landing with a grunt. "I'm so glad you're here! I'm in desperate need of more of your ranch's milk!"

Talon, for whatever reason, laughed heartily while walking around to the back of the wagon. "Mr. Wyatt… Didn't I sell yah six pails last week? Now, I know yah love our dairy, but, yah can't possibly be drinkin' almost a whole container a day."

The man shook his head rapidly before taking off his hat and holding it to his chest, as if he was pleading. "I know! I know! But, my darn kids left open the ice closet and it all spoiled! Ooh! I was foaming at the mouth in rage, Mr. Talon! Yes I was!"

Talon laughed it up for a moment prior to giving the man a couple of pats on the shoulder. "It's alright… Kids are kids; just be makin' sure they learn from their mistakes."

The man, known as Mr. Wyatt, shook his fist furiously while nodding his head in agreement. "Ooh, I did! I laid down some rules and punishments! Their hands were raw after all the sweeping they did, yes they were! Mhmm!"

Malon and Link soon began preparing the products in the back of the Delivery Wagon for transport to their owner's locations. "Don't worry there then, Mr. Wyatt…" Talon assured the man. "I've got plenty to sell and I'll even give yah a discount. Anyway, how's the rest of yer' family?"

Following the next couple of minutes, as Talon and the 'Mr. Wyatt' continued their small talk, a couple of customers approached the two hylian children manning the inventory. Malon would simply smile and ask what they wanted prior to giving them their item as requested after checking a small book from within the wagon. Many of the patrons would often remark 'the usual', so it was natural to assume they were regulars. The price seemed set in stone. Any attempts to negotiate led to Malon pointing over at Talon. 'Hmm, I guess she doesn't want to get in trouble for selling something too cheap or too high.' Link wondered. 'Set price is what you get with Malon, take it or leave it.'

The farm girl eventually giggled, holding out her hands for Link to see the collection of rupees she'd accumulated. "Don't you wish we could just go spend all of these?"

Link smiled in response while subconsciously counting out what she'd already earned; a hundred and six rupees. "What's stopping us?" He teased, making them both laugh. For some reason, he was surprised to see her taking charge like this. It wasn't that he wasn't aware of her capabilities. She was more mature than most girls her age. In an odd sort of way, he found that he liked that in a person.

"Well… There's the fact that Daddy would rip his own mustache off in anger, and the cost of living expenses." She replied, as Link nodded and shrugged to her.

Thankfully, Talon finished his chit-chat and went over to them. "Good girl." He praised after his daughter handed him the rupees. "I knew I could count on yah." Her smile gleamed wide in the sunshine until her father resumed. "Now, let's go ahead and get Mr. Wyatt here six pails of our deliciously famous Lon Lon Milk. Once that's taken care of, we'll start delivering to the shops and stalls."

Since Link was stronger than Malon, he offered to unload the pails. Getting in the back of the wagon, they formed a sort of conveyor. Link handed Malon a pail and she handed it to Talon, who in return, gave it to the awaiting Mr. Wyatt. "'Ere yah go… That'll be a hundred and twenty rupees, but I'll go eighty to help yah out a bit."

Mr. Wyatt showed a smile while thanking Talon graciously for the discount. "Thank you so much, Mr. Talon! Bless you, bless you!" After the transaction, consisting of a single purple rupee, a red rupee and two blue rupees, the man snapped his fingers to quickly summon two children, boys near or around Link's age, which hurried over to him. They were dressed in slightly different clothing, unlike their father; being less taverner and more middle-class, complete with tight leggings and velvet tunics, as well as floppy hats covering their embarrassed faces. They didn't seem to be interested in sticking around as they immediately lifted two pails of milk, one in each hand, and then left the plaza toward the Back Alleys and the Residential Area. "I promise I won't let those two little gremlins run amuck again. Thank you once more, Mr. Talon." Following a handshake, the gentleman left toward the same area as his children, carrying the last two pails of milk with him.

"Excellent work... I think I'm actually glad to have yah 'ere, along with us, Link." Talon smiled.

The praise wasn't quite deserved yet. However, Link planned on doing as much as he could for them. He wanted to continue gathering his strength back up as well as keep. In his opinion, the entire process was just a good idea. Whether there was or wasn't a reason for him to use his sword again, he'd still have to stay ready. For today, carrying those pails of milk and crates full of products would be a challenge for his back and legs, one that he was fairly keen on accepting. "It's no problem, Mr. Talon. I'm ready to work."

Talon merely grinned, sniffled and then pointed to the book which Malon had been looking in constantly during the dealings. "Let's do it then! I wanna get this done so I can go home and take me a nap! Bwar-Harr-Harr!"

Malon tossed Talon the book, which he caught, and then he slowly began reading listed goods from within the binds. That book was a catalogue, and Link was overly ready to hear everything read out of it until the job was done.