__________________________Lighthearted Prelude
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You, dressed in a loose fitting green T-shirt and blue jean shorts, and your three companions: A redhead girl with long hair and overalls, a young girl with cropped green hair and a green sundress, and a blue skinned Zora girl from the Lake Hylia slums; are all sitting together upstairs in front of your small TV in your room, appreciating your new gift. It's a new, first of its kind, two-part release: A game and a movie; the first ever successful game-to-move or movie-to-game, (in your opinion!) since they're both a reflection of each other: they are "appropriate". You like the game better because you're in control of the action, but still Love the movie, as it is, essentially, a walk-through for the hardest but most rewarding path through the game...
You're finishing the intro of the game, as Ganon vanquishes Link, when your mother entered.
The green haired girl playfully punches you in the arm. "yeah, 'little hero'." she laughs, "let's go out and take a swim!" The redhead quickly interrupted, "Or ride horses! C'mon Krystal, Horses are way-funner than water! Right, Rutostasia?" The Zora girl shied away and turned her head down "i guesso" she muttered. "Geeze, Malon! You're getting to be just as bad as your sister, Marin, used to be! Why have you started to pick on Ruto so much anyways?" Krystal demanded. Rutostasia just quietly said "s'okay." and tried to make herself as small as unapparent as possible, not wanting to stir anything up.
"Hey, don't blame me for how Marin acted when she ran away!" They began bickering, but you ignore them and unintentionally sneak away, right out the front door. It didn't take long for your friends to notice and give chase. "Link, wait up!" Ruto called out, and was the first to run down the stairs after you.
All 4 of you gathered outside the front door and formed a circle around each other. "What do you guys want to do then?" asked Malon. "I'm down for swimming" Rutostasia said with negligibly more confidence than before. "You would-" Malon accused, to which Krystal slugged her in the shoulder, "What's the matter with you, Malon?! You're never that mean...!"
Malon choked away a sob and said nothing, putting on a stern face. "It's okay, Krys. I can handle myself." Ruto said, confidently, trying to draw attention away from Malon. You suddenly fall to the grass on your back, gaining instant attention. The three girls rushed down to ask if you were okay, but you simply smirk and pat the grass beside yourself. They giggled and lay down in a cross with you, all four of your heads together.
The four of you lay about through most the afternoon, talking, giggling, occasionally getting up and playfully sparring or playing tag. The afternoon was hot and uncomfortable, but it was getting closer to sundown when Rutostasia suggested some Parkour, "I ought to head home soon, but I don't want the fun to end right away... Anyone up for some free-running to my place?" Excited agreements all around, "That's a great idea, Ruto!" Malon exclaims, "Yeah! I'm in! I'll call mom and tell her I'm sleeping over at Link's. She won’t know I'm in the slums, so she won't worry..." Krystal replied, taking out her GameBoy and selecting a contact. You were beaming, lips ear to ear, bearing happy teeth.
The four of you stretched out on the grass, barefoot. Forward bends, knee dips, horse stance, splits, and neck rolls, all of the kids getting pumped up and excited. You were twisting your torso slowly side to side as the girls defined their marks. "C'mon link!" Krystal called from the starting line. "We’re waiting on you!"
You took your mark between her and Ruto and bent down along with your friends. "I'll call it." Malon declared. "Ready?" 3 heads nodding, "Three..." she paused absurdly long, "Two..." a fan of suspense, she waited till her friends got impatient and fidgety, "ONE!" she took off first. "Hey, what about go?!" Ruto called, dashing forward; ever as awkwardly as a Zora, yet with unprecedented grace for her people. You and Krystal took off together, inches behind her, intentionally waiting on each other.
South, along the main street, leading out of the downtown Hyrule Metro area; although you lived in the nearby suburbs, not the city: 'all roads lead to Hyrule'.
You caught up with Malon, who caught sight of her companions and whistled sharply, "Come on Epona, join us!" She had ridden her horse out to visit and they two were inseparable, like life-mates. Epona galloped right over. "Cheater!" Krystal giggled, "You can’t ride in Parkour!" Ruto giggled and veered off the road as it tapered into the undeveloped open fields northeast of the Lake Hylia slums. She knew she'd win if she could reach the shore even halfway behind her friends. No one can out swim a Zora!
A few moments later, when you caught sight of her from the corner of your eye, deviating from Malon's lead, you took off to follow Ruto, tapping Krystal's shoulder and nodding in Ruto's direction. She nodded, "Hey, Malon, Ruto is playing to win! Can your horse swim?" She laughed.
Malon was competitive, but had too many personal problems as of late to answer or focus on the fun; she was flooded with grief that she would not share with anyone but her most trusted friends... and even though they were here with her now, she still hasn't told but one friend. Her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears, but she blinked them away and veered toward the shore and followed from behind, slowing down.
Krystal was fiercely competitive, but liked you, her friend, too much to try to outpace you... she was struggling with herself beside you, but finally bolted ahead, running past Ruto, reaching the shore first. She quickly fished out and tossed her GameBoy into the grass, diving right in. You then look back toward Malon who was walking now, horse following. You slowed, she noticed and shooed you ahead; so you dash on, catching up quickly.
Ruto looked back when you passed her. Seeing Malon mount her Horse, she gave up racing and waited for her to catch up, Malon noticed and picked up pace. When she was within 20 yards, Ruto hollered out "Krys dropped her phone, could you ride out to the house and drop it off for us?" As she shouted back in affirmation, Malon smiled and gave an exaggerated nod and waved to make sure Ruto could see her answer clearly. Ruto waved then hobbled ahead quickly, pointing to the cell in the grass as she dove into the lake without looking back, trading the awkward terrain hobble for noble aquatic grace.
Krystal almost neared the step ladder on the pier behind Ruto's adoptive family's shanty; you were catching up, but Ruto was torpedoing madly toward both of you, then dove deep, disappearing for a moment, and suddenly jumped out of the water a few times, as if to announce herself. Krystal was first to reach the ladder and already half way up, looking back at the splashing. Astonished, "Geeze, that's fast!" she observed aloud.
You grabbed the ladder as Krystal exclaimed at Ruto, who dove deep and spiraled down out of sight into the deep blue lake. Krystal hastily reached for the top but lost her footing, slipped, and she had to struggle to climb from the halfway, almost falling into you as you ascended. You assisted her by offering one hand for a foothold as she slid down, though really you were trying to block for impact. "Thanks, Link!" Krystal smiled down on you as Ruto splashed out of the water and straight up to her front door then entered. "But it looks like we lost!" She finished off, spontaneously.
Ruto was exiting her front door as you were getting your last step up, while Krystal offered a hand. You both grabbed towels Ruto brought out; a strange commodity in a Zora community, but she had uncommon friends for a young Zora in today's world. You all smiled and laughed as you and Krystal dried off. "I'm going to have to go back for my GameBoy, you know..." she started, but noticed Ruto's expression change, looking sarcastic, or concerned, or disgusted, or... "What?" Krystal requested. "Malon will bring it with her; I asked her to grab it and pointed to it as I jumped in the lake."
The three of you chatted idly, sitting on the dock edge, enjoying the end of the afternoon into the oncoming evening. You listened as they discussed all kinds of things, and various topics, while waiting for Malon.
"... and so they are out of town for a while. I have the shanty all to myself for the foreseeable future!" Ruto had finished explaining, contented. "I've heard this shanty town was built on the remains of an ancient temple..." Krystal said partly out of the blue. Ruto began to respond when the familiar clopping pattern of a friend's horse interrupted her thoughts, "oh, there's your phone..." she said.
The four of you went inside and Ruto offered some herbal tea she'd prepared when retrieving the towels. So you sat around her vacant adobe with your friends and listened attentively, relaxing. The conversation was mostly quiet and plain... Local scenes, weather talk, mutual financial woes to look forward to as adults, the new Legend of Zelda release, then the mythology of the hero of time came up, as it usually does because of your name, but subsided without a whimper or a bang. None of you actually knew very much about the Legends.
Malon was silent most of this time, and Ruto nudged her. "You told me... come on, we all care about you." she whispered. Malon was too proud to cry, but couldn't hold back the tears anymore.
She didn't sob or cry, but choked down her grief and breathed deeply; ignoring the eye leak she had sprung in spite of this effort. "It's my mom... She's... She's so very ill..." She paused long and hard, trying to even out her breathing. "What's wrong with Cremia?!" Krystal exclaimed. Their mothers had been great friends before Malon warmed up to Krystal. Krys all but lived vicariously through her mother and considered Cremia to be her own friend, long before she did Malon or, her elder sister, Marin whom had a self-possessed lifestyle mostly separate and alone.
Malon had lost her resolve; she'd endured hiding her grief for too long in one day. Usually she would find a tree stump to sit on and deal with her emotions alone, but her usual routine was delayed by a visit to Rutostasia’s abode. She broke down and cried, embarrassingly in front of her friends; the only people, perhaps, whom in front of she could survive the shame of even doing so. Between sobs, she explained all she knew. "The doctors say... it's- It's the cold air off the mountain... and told her... to stay- nngh- Stay warm and in bed, but Dad... (aih- gasp) and Ingo both think it's a cop-out... That the, the doctors don't know any more," She sobbed, gasped for air and slowed her breath. "About- They don't know more about it than we do."
Her tone became less grief stricken and more enraged as she continued.
"They say that it will pass, to keep her sipping water and wrapped up in bed, but they don't understand how long it’s been!" She was getting madder and madder at the thought of her mother's state. "They don't understand how frail and weak it's making her, she can’t stay in bed and do nothing! She needs to be out with the sky, the wind, the cows and the horses!" She near about screeched that last word: Horses were her life and world, and the whole ranch was her mother's life and world. Everything up to this moment had been build up and more build up. The horses reminded her all too much of her love and affection for the ranch and her mother, and she became disassociated for a moment.
Lon-Lon Romani Ranch, locally known as The LLRR (or "double LR", even "the LR ranch"), was once a great and economic foothold in northeast Hyrule. That is, until her mother struck ill a year ago, as if the two, person and property, had intertwined health. Ingo was too selfish to do half the work Cremia did, and Malon's father Talon was a lazy man who slept more than he worked. But lately he was too attentive to his wife for that to be the case... Malon had never seen her father awake for so many hours in a day, so constantly beside her mother; his wife. The cows had all but destroyed the last bush on the property, and had already mowed away the grass, leaving the ranch dry, dusty, and brown: An insult and injury from its former glory.
Everyone had fallen as silent as you; except you, as you sigh heavily and reach to Malon's hands. "Thanks, Link. You're a courageous friend, you know that?" She said smiling, grabbing ahold with one hand and wiping the tears from her eyes with the other. Krystal moved in to initiate a group hug, and Ruto awkwardly and reluctantly joined in. The day was over, the friends stayed well into the night, and eventually Krystal's GameBoy chirped a 'secret sound'. "Mom's asking where we are... Looks like the jig is up! C'mon Link, maybe Malon will give us a ride back to your house?" She said. Malon smiled, but said nothing, just nodded. She was spent.
Ruto said she wanted to go to bed, so the remaining of your three companions rode together, slowly, in silence; twilight coming on quickly, the skies having long lost their beautiful red and pink hues in the west. No one said anything until they were out of the lake and beyond its outer shores, "Do you want us to stay at your place tonight, Malon?" Krystal asked innocently. Malon's heart throbbed and her answer was caught in her throat. She half turned her head but immediately hesitated. Krystal leaned in.
The three looked quite silly sharing a horse, and Malon, becoming self-conscious about it, plus regaining her usual grace, she turned back and smiled. Krystal leaned back into you, when Malon replied, "That's a pretty good idea, actually." Her heart too heavy to convey her genuine excitement. Krystal snapped her handheld open and selected a contact. While she waited she teased you "How come you're the only kid in in Hyrule who doesn't have a GameBoy?" You smile, but say nothing, just shaking your head and shrugging.
Krystal laughed, "Whatever..."
She spoke into her mic, "Hi, mom? - yeah, I kn- - yes- - I know. I'm sorry. We're fine. Yes... yeah, I know. We're fine! - okay Ruto was eaten by the lake monster again, and Malon was eaten by her horse." She patronized. You smiled as you admired the silly relationship between Krystal and her mother. Something about it had a sneaky feel to it and made you wonder at times what was really going on, as if there were more to it than the silliness you saw. Krystal continued her call, "yeah, I know" she laughed, "Call Link's house, okay? We're staying at Malon's tonight. She needs her friends, and we can’t say no." and hung up without a goodbye. "Your mom lets you get away with everything, Krystal! MY mom would've had me cleaning the barn and stables, sun up till sun down for a month if I made demands like that!" for the first time in months she genuinely laughed, even though she felt only guilt; as if she SHOULD BE cleaning the stables forever.
However, her similar admiration for her family's friends lifted her heart. "Link, you want to grab anything from home on the way?" She asked as they approached your house at the settling in of stars and moonlight. "Grab the satchel, Link!" Krystal said excitedly. A thematic gift she had bought you to go with your newly acquired movie-and-videogame box-set. You're slightly embarrassed, as you thought it was more like a purse; but couldn't deny your friends, and nodded in response. Krystal nudged Malon "They'll be just like the Link in the movie!" She giggled. Malon's expression became serious and concerned, but she said nothing.
It was nearing midnight before your trio finally arrived at the dilapidated overhang that had two huge L's and two huge R's with tiny fine print in between that was meant to read out as "Lon Lon Romani Ranch" across the unmaintained wood. Malon hated to see her home go to such waste like that, and tried not to look. You stared at it, incredulous: So much worn away in such a short time.
No 'c' or 'h', two small "o"s in 'Lon' and 'Romani', and two missing 'n's made the sign look like it said "L n Lo R ma i Ran ."... It had been a decade since you and Malon met, and you only remembered being there once, but it was such a pristine place! You couldn't help but think this mystery illness had something to do with it, and couldn't shake the clamps you felt gripping your heart at the thought.
"How come you never invite us to your house, Krystal?" Malon perked, not really even asking, but to clear the silence, however Krystal fell further silent and just curled her green bangs with a finger. You abruptly dismounted and startled the girls, "Whoa!" Malon called, half to her horse, half to you, "A little warning next time okay, hero?" She joked, referring to the satchel with a nod. You smile and pat the satchel. You thought it really did make you look like the Hero of Time; just with darker hair, no tunic, and no equipment. Okay so you hardly looked anything like the hero, but you liked to think you did. Your mother always said you had the blondest hair in the world when you were born, never the less.
You jog alongside Epona and friends, down the drive to the Ranch House. Ingo was sleeping on the porch, arms folded sternly over his chest, and a seemingly permanent scowl painted his lips. Malon and Krystal dismounted Epona and Malon told you both to wait at the porch while she took her horse to the corral and closed it up. Krystal was being very self-conscious ever since Malon's innocent question and you notice her contemplative eyes. You step to her and break her focus. Smiling with your eyes, looking into hers, she says, "Oh Link, you always know what to say don't you?" Then she smiled. This comment was just loud enough, it shocked Ingo out of his sleep and he shouted out "Who's there, thieves?! Brawlers?! Mafioso?! Get off my property!"
He was still dreaming but didn't know he was awake, and took off after you and Krystal. You grab her arm, pulling her toward the corral, and take off running for Malon. "Malon! Ingo's gone nuts!" Krystal called out ahead. You look back and can see Ingo veer off toward the stables. Probably getting a horse, you think. You run ahead faster and clear the gate just as Malon is closing it. Bolting to the horse, jumping on Epona's back, you turn her around and gallop to the gate. Krystal and Malon traded places with you and Epona, they two hiding behind the corral gate, and you, riding Epona expertly, jump the gate and gallop off toward Ingo to distract him from the girls.
"Thief!" he calls out when he sees you riding.
You lead Ingo around the corral for a few laps before Talon storms out of the house, ranting and spouting, "What in tarnation is goin' awn out here? I had better notta heard someone stealin' my horses!" He belted, voice surely carrying across the entire span of ranch, just as you and Ingo are coming around your third lap. You halt Epona and stop right in front of Talon, who glares furiously at you. Ingo came around a little too quickly and halted the horse a little too late. The horse compensated, but Ingo did not and Ingo was flung off the horse's back and directly into Talon's huge belly, knocking the both of them to the ground.
Inside the ranch house, the three of you, and Talon, sat at the dinner table, while Ingo stood sullenly in the threshold between the dining and living rooms, thinly hiding his shame behind anger. Talon's demeanor was reversed; calm, collected. He was happy even, as to cater to his daughter's guests; but upset given the circumstances of his wife's health, and the hour. "I got no qualms puttin' y'all up for the night, but I'd appreciate more warning next time you come home at nearly two o' clock in th'mornin' with friends! Coulda put out some fresh milk for y'all." Malon recoiled at the thought of giving away free milk while the cows starved, turned to say something, gaping at her father, but couldn't bring herself to fault his generous hospitality and looked down into her lap instead, torn between pride, concern, and shame. Talon yawned big and loud "aaahAAWWWwwwhhh.... Y'all get some sleep. I'll letcha sleep-in, given schools out this summer and yer up so late. Ya need yar rest." He said as he got up from the dining table, beckoning Ingo toward the porch.
The kids wandered into the living room, but could hear Talon sternly lecturing Ingo about making hasty decisions and acting recklessly. Malon and Krystal were totally wiped out and could barely keep an eye open as they took opposite arms of the couch and laid their heads down. You drape the enormous quilt lain across the back of the couch over the two and retreat to the arm chair beside Krystal's head. You could barely hear Malon murmur something about her mother's knitting as she fell unconscious. "Mom knitted thi- quilt... When Marin was..."
Everyone had settled in for the night. The witching hour was on and such a fascinating time for you. You feel very alive and alert, and can't sleep, just waiting for your friends' breathing to even out so you could quietly make your escape into the night air. Dozing off, briefly, for half an hour or so, you are soon awakened by a faint sound from outside. Opening your eyes and listening, it sounds like... laughter? You quietly creep out of the arm chair and sneak toward the front door. There it is again, but it sounded distant. You hesitate at the doorknob.
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