Fairy Boy
By: Red Sparrow
After the painful incident regarding the Great Deku Tree’s death and a tearful goodbye to Saria, a friend he’d known all his life, Link found himself outside of Kokiri Forest for the first time.
Link looks around in wonder, “Wow...it’s so huge!”
Navi, his fairy partner, flew in front of his face. “Hey, Link! Let’s get a move on already!”
Link snapped out of his trance-like state, “Wha...?” Link looked at the floating orb of light in front of him. Navi spoke again in an agitated voice, “I think we should go now, Link. We’re losing precious time and Hyrule Castle is awfully far away from here.”
“Oh, right!” Link smiled timidly. And with that, they trekked forward. Link brimming with valor, excitement, adrenaline and motivation.
3 hours later...
“...I’m....so....tired.” Link said. He walked slowly, he was slumped down and dragging his feet. His valor was worn out, he was tired, exhausted and had to force himself to go on.
“Navi...how far till we get there?” Link asked with a tired voice.
“Uhm...” Navi looked up. She was resting on Link’s head. “I think you have a bit more ground to cover, cause I don’t even see Hyrule Castle yet.”
Suddenly, they heard some hoof steps behind them. They quickly turned to see a horse drawn wagon inching towards them. The wagon stopped and the driver, a slightly chubby man, called out, “Howdy! Need a lift?”
LATER...
“Aren’t you glad we found this wagon, Link?” Navi asked. Link looks at his fairy friend and nodded, “Yeah...I was starving to death!”
Talon, the driver, looked back and raised a brow as Link began stuffing himself with some food in the back, “Hey! I said you can have SOME food, ya hear?”
Link looked up and smiled embarrassingly, “I hear—err, I mean...yes sir!”
LATER THAT NIGHT...
Link was laying on a mattress in Talon’s living room. He was inside Lon Lon Ranch. It was dark out, Talon had told Link that he would drop Link off at the castle tomorrow since he already had a delivery there. So now Link was lucky enough to get a place to stay instead of staying outside in the middle of the cold night.
Link sat up slowly, he had heard something. “Navi?” the orb of light floated up to Link, she yawned, “What is it?” Link looked out the window, “Don’t you hear something? It’s like a song.” Navi listened and nodded slowly, “I bet it’s a ghost! Let’s leave!”
Link looked at Navi, perplexed, “You’re a fairy and you’re scared of ghosts?”
“Is there a law against that?” Navi countered.
Link quickly got out of the bed and pulled on his boots, he put his cap on and headed for the door, “Let’s go!” he whispered. Navi sighed sadly and followed Link out the door.
“I think its coming from there!” Link whispered to Navi, pointing in the direction of an open field. There was a circular fence around it and a well worn out dirt track around the outside of the fence. The field was huge. The moonlight in the background gave it a dreamlike look as the dew on the grass shone in the moonlight, like an ocean of green. The grass swayed gently in the soft wind.
“Wow” Navi said, “It’s beautiful!”
By now the singing had stopped and Link wandered into the fenced in area. They glanced around, it was eerily quiet. Suddenly something knocked Link down from behind, Navi freaked out and screamed, “Eeek!!! It’s the GHOST!!!”
A small horse had knocked Link over and was nudging its head against Link’s face, Link laughed, “Hey, its one of the horses here. She’s so cute!”
The horse neighed happily as it nuzzled Link.
“Who are you?” said a new voice from behind. It nearly scared the life out of Link and Navi almost fainted from the shock. Link quickly got up and looked behind him to see a young red haired girl. She looked to be only one year younger than Link. She sitting on the fence, staring at him.
“Oh! Uhh...I’m Link.” Link said, still getting over the fact that he nearly wetted himself. Navi flew in front of Link’s face and curtsied, “I’m Navi!”
The girl smiled happily and leapt off of the fence, “Yay! We’ve got a customer!”
She grabbed Link’s hand and drags him towards the stall, Link tried in vain to explain, “Hey, wait! I’m not a—whoa!”
They entered the stall to see Talon sleeping and a worker stacking hay with a pitchfork. The girl walked up to Talon and sighed, “Dad’s sleeping again. Hey, Dad, a customer!!!”
Talon sat up quickly, his eyes wide open, “Huh? I’m awake!” he looks at Link, “Oh, howdy Link.” Talon then went back to sleep as if nothing happened.
The girl pointed at the worker, “And that’s Mr. Ingo!”
Ingo muttered angrily, “Hmph! Our owner does nothing but sleep. He leaves all the work in the ranch to me!”
The girl smiled nervously, “You’re right, Mr. Ingo! All we have is thanks to you!”
Ingo muttered under his breath, “Just wait...I’m gonna change the name to Ingo Ranch...”
Soon the group of Link, Navi and Malon, found themselves outside again sitting on the fence. Epona was trotting around happily. Link had a small bottle of milk, he was sipping it when the girl spoke, “I’m Malon.”
Link nodded.
After finishing the milk, Link sets down the empty bottle on a post beside him, “Was that you singing earlier?”
Malon looks at Link, the wind blowing her hair sideways, the moonlight shining on the side of her face. “Oh...I’m sorry, I guess I was pretty loud.”
“It’s alright...You’re pretty good!” Link said.
Malon nodded and smiled, “Thank you, my mom taught me how to sing.”
“Uhm...Malon?” Link asked, “Where’s your mother?”
Malon looked at the ground for a moment, silence hung over them and Link already regretted asking.
Finally, Malon looked back up and said softly, “She died when I was little, but I’m ok now. It still hurts when I think about it, though...I just miss her so much. My dad used to work the ranch really hard, but ever since my mom died he couldn’t bring himself to work anymore. That’s why he sleeps so much. Singing by myself...it makes me feel better.”
“Oh...” Link said softly, “For me...this ocarina helps me feel better. It was a gift from my friend.”
Malon smiled at Link softly, Malon looked up at the moon. Link followed her gaze at the moon. Malon spoke, “From that moon...my prince will come down to rescue me. Just like in the stories my mom used to read to me.” She looked at Link. “It sounds stupid, right?”
Link shook his head, “No...It’s good to have dreams. It gives you hope.”
Malon looked at Link, “You know, Fairy Boy. You seem to know the right things to say.” she laughed.
THE NEXT DAY...
Talon, with Link, Navi and Malon in the back was slowly rolling along a neatly paved road in the wagon. Hyrule Castle was only a few yards away, but the place was heavily guarded. Talon whispered back to the three, “Alright, boy. I don’t think you’ll be able to officially see the princess. You’ll have to sneak it!”
Malon, who had insisted on coming, looked at Link, “Be careful.” Link nodded, and said, “I will, don't worry. I'll see you again. Goodbye and thanks!”
When the coast was clear, he leapt off the wagon and dove into some bushes on the side of the road.
“Ow” Link winced, the bush jutting into his back.
As the wagon continued onward towards the rear of the castle, Malon saw some guards heading into Link’s direction. The guards must have heard something. Without thinking, Malon leapt off of the wagon, laid on her side and held her knee, she yelled out as loud as she could, “Ow, my knee!!! It hurts!!!”
The guards neared Link. They were only a few inches in front of Link’s face when they stopped and ran towards Malon.
Malon saw Link as he left the bush and climbed over the castle wall. She smiled softly and said:
“Good Luck, Fairy Boy.”
THE END
