CHAPTER 5>>


About one month passed. No one knew anything about Gaara, a young boy who had been assigned to guard the ranch with Link. He had brown hair, dark eyes, with large bold lines drawn around them, creating an even darker look to him. He had some strange writing on his forehead, written in some strange calligraphy that no one could read. When asked about it he said it read "love". This in no way fit with the rest of his look, and when asked about that, he said it represented his "love of killing." Even his name scared people. Gaara of the Sand was intimidating in every way.
"That kid scares me," Malon said one day. Link, tending to the cattle, looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "I think he means to," he said. "He believes that if you look fierce, you are fierce."
"Well that's dumb . . ." Malon replied sarcastically. She lifted a large crate and carried it to the door. 'How can she lift so much?' Link thought. 'She seems so frail and delicate . . . I can't imagine that she is so strong . . . She doesn't have an ounce of muscle on her . . .' Malon sat down and started to breathe softly, resting. "And, how come his name "Gaara of the Sand"? Why not just Gaara?" Link sighed. "Why do you care so much about him in the first place?"
"Because," Malon said, "he just seems so scary."
"That's sort of the point, I believe. He said he wasn't from here. That's probably how the sand thing came to be."


As Malon went to bed that night, Link went on a patrol of the ranch. It was rather dark that night, as it was a new moon. That's probably what they were waiting for, when they planned to strike. It is also the night that Link was supposed to routinely check for any thing suspicious. If only he had stayed there, then maybe everything wouldn't have turned into a bloodbath.
Link walked the coral several times, as this is where the thieves were most often spotted. It was believed that their goal was to steal the horses, as horses were sacred to Gerudo culture. Everything seemed ok. He called out to Gaara. No response. "Gaara!" he shouted sternly. "Get over here!!" There was still no response. He walked over towards the stables, bent on finding him, and chewing him out.
He found him to be gone. The stables, with all the horses were left completely unguarded. "Dammit!" Link yelled. "Where the hell did he go?!" There were loud sounds coming from inside, and then the distressed whinny of a horse. Gaara had left his post, and something had gone horribly wrong. The enemy had struck. "I'm gonna murder him!" Link yelled as he drew his sword and violently kicked down the door.
He ran in, holding the blade with both hands and looked around menacingly. No one was found, but two of the horses were gone!
The enemy couldn't have escaped that quickly, so Link started violently throwing, kicking, and slashing everything is sight, trying to uncover the crook. What he found horrified him. It was a bloodstained sword. Gaara's sword. There was also a severed hand, the blood pumping from his wrist. Link took of his hat and held it up to his chest. Gaara was definitely dead. He bowed his head and prayed. He then vowed to seek vengeance, and was born again with a vicious ferocity that could be matched by nothing.
There were spots of blood on the floor. Link groaned. He bent over and rubbed it a bit. He brought it up in front of his face and rubbed it between his fingers. It was fresh . . . He got up and groaned again.
As he ran outside, he heard a woman screaming. At first, he thought that something had happened to the thief. Then he realized something. Malon. He took of running to her room. He found the thief in the windowsill. Link pulled out his hookshot and aimed straight at the gerudo. He fired. The hook flew straight at the thief, who dodged it without difficulty. However, she lost her footing and came falling down to the ground.
She got up and rubbed her face. She looked up. Link was advancing on her quickly. He screamed and swung it straight for her head. She flipped backwards. The thief drew her halberd and flew straight at Link. He lifted his shield and braced himself, but the thief did a feint attack, and landed the blade right into his flank. She pulled it out towards her, and the blood came gushing out of his side. He shook it off and took out a bomb. He lit it and threw it straight at the thief. She caught it and threw it off into the distance. It exploded, lighting the ranch like daylight. The thief took her halberd and swung vertically. Link jumped to the side and attacked with a jump. He sliced the halberd in two. He pinned the Gerudo to the ground, and held his sword inches from her face. He said nothing. They stared into each other's eyes. Then, Links shriveled in pain. He began to cough up blood. He fell dead onto the ground.
Malon found his body about an hour after the fight. He had 4 knives lodged in his back. She scooped him up onto Epona and rushed him to town.