The Legend of Zelda: The Lost Time

Chapter One: Seven Years Later

A lot could change in seven years. No one knew that better than the young man standing on the threshold of the forest, gazing out onto the green rolling plains before him. He closed his eyes when very familiar smells encircled him and a sudden ache bloomed in his heart.

"We made it. We're finally home." He whispered to the majestic golden brown horse standing faithfully behind him. The horse whinnied as if in reply, and nudged the long sword resting in a leather sheath strapped to her master's back.

"Okay. Okay. We'll get going." The young man hoisted his body onto the back of the impatient mare and shuffled in the saddle to get as comfortable as possible. "The question is…I don't know where we should get going to."

A sudden breeze crept through the tall grass, prickling the horse's attention as it reached her ears. Her rider instantly felt the tension as her muscles tightened and his instincts moved his hand to clutch the hilt of his sword, but before he could do much else his horse whined excitedly—rearing on its hunches and darted into the open sun. Her strong legs pumped swiftly, the wind whistled over her sturdy frame propelling her like a bow hurtles an arrow.

"Epona!" her rider gripped her mane to hold on, "what's wrong!?"

The horse ignored his shouts and kept speeding onward. Slowly, the young man saw a humble rooftop emerge over a lush hill. Smoke wound up from its shingles, it twisted back in response to a rooster's harsh crow. The rider could make out another whistle on the wind, the melody was distinctly familiar. He felt his stomach freeze over as understanding swept through him.

This was what Epona was after.

The notes called to them, warm and dreamlike. He hadn't heard this melody sung aloud for such a long, long, time. The ice laced across his stomach pulled tighter, sending a sharp jab of panic through his legs. He knew now where they were going, and he wasn't ready to meet those he knew lived beyond the tall wooden gate springing into view.

The singing grew louder now, clearer. The young man pulled harshly on the reigns but the singer's clarity had sparked too much excitement in the mare for her to slow now. Against all better judgment, the horse lurched into the air, clearing the gate in one graceful bound. He pulled back again, and Epona reared, throwing her master to the dirt. He rolled out of the crash adeptly, used to this sort of treatment, and could only gape as he watched his mare dash around the corner.

"Oh!"

The melody ended.

"Oh—Oh my!"

The young man rushed out into the large corral. Epona had jumped this smaller fence as well and nudgd a young girl with her muzzle. He stopped and stared. The girl giggled, her long red hair still sparkled brilliantly in the light. Dejavu washed over him, though in a strange way. In his travels, he had met another girl who looked exactly like this, except she was not the one he remembered. But today, it really was her. She had grown up, just like she had back then. Nothing had changed.

"Where did you come from my beautiful, strong, angel?" the girl cooed, stroaking Epona's neck.

The young man was confused. Didn't she recognize her favorite horse?

No. No of course she didn't. When he was sent back, Epona had been with him through the strange journey. She never had the chance to grow up with Epona like before….

"Oh my, we're full of visitors today."

His breathe caught as he met the girl's gaze. Hers curious and surprised, his reminiscent and forlorn. It took him a second to realize the red-haired girl had spoken to him. His cheeks flushed. What could he say? Would something happen if he spoke to her?

The girl giggled again. "Is this your partner, pretty horse? He doesn't seem to be too talkative." She opened the gate to the corral, "why don't you come in stranger? My name's Malon."

I know. I know who you are.

Feeling awkward, he complied and stared at her critically. Her smile brightened expectantly.

"You…you really are Malon…."

Why he would say such a thing out loud, not even the great goddess of Wisdom herself would know the answer. He cursed himself as soon as the confusion bled through her blue eyes.

"Uhm…yes….I don't know who else I'd be."

"Ah—of course! I just meant—I've heard stories about you and your father in town! Haha—I hear you have the best tasting milk in Hyrule!"

"You've…hear about me?" Her smile came back to her face, "people really admire our product that much? That makes me feel good! Is that why you're here? Would you like to buy some!?"

He braced himself. He remember how…enthusiastic she could get and he was out of practice in handling her in this mode. Cecilia had always been so quiet, and Romani wasn't nearly as bad, though she was closer to the Malon he remembered. Both had a habit of dubbing him under the strangest names.

"Sure, I'll buy some," his stomach growled, "sounds like I need some sustenance."

"Sounds to me like you'll need more than just milk."

"Yeah…probably…"

Malon smiled and Epona nudged her back once again. "Hello again….need something?"

"She likes your singing." Link said nostalgically.

"My singing?"

"Yes. You have a beautiful voice."

Malon turned to Epona to hide a trace of blush on her cheeks. She stroked the mare's mane and chanced a glance back at her strange visitor when she managed to regain control. The green cap he wore flittered in the warm breeze. She took in his strange attire and gasped as she caught the glint of the long sword strapped to his back. She now studied him more closely, and noticed a thin coating of chain mail peeking just above his tunic.

Swords and chain mail? Malon thought in a panic, and he's got a bow with arrows too. Who carries stuff like that? Soldiers. But what would a soldier be doing all the way out here? No…he's not a hylian soldier, maybe just a wandering mercenary. Whatever. He's dangerous.

"Are you…from Hyrule?" Malon asked.

"Hu? Of course." The man answered immediately, confused by the question.

"Do you mind—if I ask your name?"

"My name?" he asked the question as if offended, but then a sad smile overtook him, "oh, that's right…I never told you."

He stared into the ground for a time, his expression illegible. Malon began to sweat and once she opened her mouth to speak his head lifted, the sad smile returned.

"I'm Link." He said calmly.

"Link?" Malon repeated, "sorry, but that's kind of silly."

Link laughed. "That's what you said last time."

"What?"

"Nothing. So are you going to sell me milk or not?"

"Oh. Right. Wait here."

As he watched Malon dart into the small house he laughed in spite of himself. At least she did not retaliate with a nickname this time. He was glad "fairy-boy" no longer existed in this timeline, though if Navi had been here, she probably would have come up with it again. He sighed. He never was able to unite with his fairy companion….despite all his efforts to look for her. Perhaps she was just one more face he wasn't supposed to see.

He reached for his wallet and opened it. Bright jewels glowed in the reflection of his eyes. All of his funds had been stored prudently, he was proud of himself….and also glad that currency did not appear to change in parallel dimensions. Still, he knew his stache would not last forever.

Guess the next thing to do is go find a job….

"Here ya go."

Malon came back carrying a tray full of glass bottles. They twittered with each of her footfalls as she approached. He noticed she kept her eyes fiercely trained on his and he tried to smile uncomfortably. Link didn't understand her sudden hostility. Then again, he had let things slip that would alarm anyone. His heart ached suddenly. This was just a taste of what was to come. No one would remember him, but he would always remember them. Loneliness swept through him with the breeze. Maybe he would avoid running into any of his past friends, but this idea made him feel worse. Why had he wanted to find Hyrule again so badly? What was the point of coming back?

"I'll give you two for 80 rupees."

Malon's voice knocked his thoughts from his head. Her sharp eyes now had an impatient edge and he realized he must have looked dazed for quite awhile.

"Oh…uhm…I'll just take one."

"Fine but it'll be 60 rupees. I'm giving you a deal with two."

"Okay. Two it is."

He handed her the money and popped the cork on the first bottle. The milk was cold and deliciously sprinkled with hints of sweetness.

"Thank you," he said, "I'm sorry Epona gave you a start."

"Epona!?"

That did it. Malon set the tray of milk on the ground and her hands flew to her hips. Her eyes burned as a dark frown crossed her lips.

"Who are you? Have we met somewhere?"

Uh-oh. She was starting to catch on. He had said too much, been here too long. He shouldn't have come back he knew it. Dammit.

"N—no, we haven't met. I'm sorry—but I have to go!"

"Wait!" Malon cried but Link was already mounted and prepared to spur Epona forward before a pair of wide eyes stared back into his own. Epona raised her front hooves in alarm, sending a large bellied man toppling backwards. His mustache bristled when he winced in pain and failed to get back to his feet.

"Talon!" Link cried involuntarily and Malon's eyes whipped to the back of his head. Link jumped from his saddle and landed promptly beside the fallen man. Malon darted forward as well shouting, "Dad! Are you alright? What happened?"

"Hold on," Link cautioned her, "give him some space."

In one movement, he pushed her gently to the side and propped Talon up with his arm. Another horrified gasp escaped Malon as streaks of red ran down her father's left side. Catching sight of the wound as well, Link flashed to one of the packs that hung over Epona's saddle and rematerialized beside Talon once more, cotton swabs, two bottles filled to the brim with a red liquid, and bandages in hand. He worked quickly, so quickly, that Malon had little time to recover from her initial shock before her father's wounds were cleaned and bandaged.

"Talon? Can you hear me?" Link asked quietly and Malon flopped down to the grass.

"Dad? Dad!"

Talon's eyes fluttered open and his head turned to the sound of her voice.

"Malon? Oh good…I made it back…"

"What happened?"

"I went to town to sell milk…"

"I know."

"On the way back the caravan was attacked…"

"Attacked!?" Malon shrieked, "by who!?"

"I don't know….a group of women with dark skin…"

"Gerudo." Link hissed.

"Gerudo? But they live in the desert don't they? What would they want with your caravan dad?"

"I think they thought I was transporting something important into the castle, they kept saying it was a violation of the treaty. Even when they searched through everything….they knew we were harmless but they took it all…my stock….and Mr. Ingo…"

"Oh-no!" Malon breathed, "is Mr. Ingo…?"

"No," Talon winced, "he's alive…at least I hope, he got away—we were separated."

"You should be inside," Link threaded his arm under Talon's good shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. Reacting on instinct and adrenalin Malon bolted for the door of the house and led them inside. Link set Talon down on the couch ignoring his strange stares.

"I'll get you some water." Malon offered and ran upstairs.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Link asked.

"No," Talon answered breathlessly, "thank you, young man. You really knew what you were doing. I can feel the pain already passing…"

"Ah. That was more to do with the potion than with me. It should heal your wounds in about a week."

"Oh. Well, thank you again."

Footfalls pounded on the stairs and Malon thrust a glass of spilling water in Talon's hands. This time, she pushed Link aside and brought up a chair to sit beside her father. Link felt a pinch of embarrassment, the kind that told him it was better for him to be elsewhere. As discreetly as he could, he slipped back outside.

Talon mumbled assurances to Malon's strings of furious inquiry into his welfare. "I'm fine. I'm fine Malon, but—who is that man?"

"Huh?" Malon blinked, in her panic she had completely forgotten about the green clad visitor now outside the door.

"Oh. He says his name is Link. Apparently he came here to buy milk."

"Oh. It's rare we get customers out here."

"Dad, we never get customers out here. That's why we set up shop in Castle Town remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"He seems pretty fishy to me. Don't know why he's really here."

A soft tune began to echo from the corral. A flute? No, this tune was softer and less shrill. She did not recognize the melody but the notes were yearning and a little sad. Malon's previous anger deflated.

"He's a musician now too?" she sighed, her sarcasm still intact.

"He can't be all that bad. He fixed me up, he's probably just lost."

"But he looks dangerous dad! Did you see all those weapons?"

"Yes, which is why I think he just wanders around the country. He probably uses them for self defense. I mean…if Ingo and I had had weapons to defend ourselves with…."

Malon blinked and thought that over. She rarely ever took her dad's naïve conclusions into any serious consideration, but maybe this time, he was right. Deep down--and she had no idea why--she did not want to think ill of her stranger visitor. Perhaps it was because his blue eyes seemed so striking….

Malon shook her head. No, it wasn't going to be like that. She didn't know anything about him. He still could be dangerous. After all, he knew a lot of things that no ordinary stranger could know….that she could not ignore. Talon sighed deeply.

"I hope Mr. Ingo makes it back here all right….I wonder if our new friend would be willing to help us look for him?"

Malon's first reaction was to scream a resoundingly firm "No." But she thought about it for a minute. If the Gerudos were starting some sort of intrusion into the country, there was no safe way for the two of them to go find their friend on their own.

"Ah—what the heck? He did help us out before hu? The worse thing he could do is say no right?" Malon stood and Talon smiled.

"I'll stay here."

Malon laughed. "I know dad."

The sad melody outside transformed into a mighty crescendo of feelings Malon could not interpret. Nevertheless, it pulled at her heart and she could feel the power of the notes pouring out in that strange, soft whistling pitch. She walked slowly out to the corral and saw Link sitting placantly on the ground with a small, round and blue instrument held to his lips. The sun lit his bangs uncovered by the green cap in glorious bands of gold and blonde and the bronze hilt of his sword glowed happily, as if to respond to the proud song pouring from his soul. Malon's breath caught in her throat. The scene was quite beautiful, almost like a moving painting, and she hated to disturb it. But the majesty in his song began to dissipate in slow, melodic whispers, fading on as the wind sent his cryptic message to perhaps some distant pair of waiting ears.

Instinctually, Malon clapped. Link looked back at her, his eyes coming back into focus from these dazes she noticed he often slipped into. She thought she also noted a hint of red just above his cheeks, but it could have been the sun's idea of a joke.

"Oh, hello," he said and got to his feet, "is Tal—your father all right?"

"Yes. Thank you so much for helping him."

"You don't have to thank me. Anyone would have done the same."

"I don't know about that. It was a very kind thing to do."

She smiled at him and expected to see him do the same, but instead, his lips pulled down into a frown and his eyes dropped to the blue instrument in his hand.

"You play beautifully. What kind of instrument is that?"

She thought the light conversation would take his mind off whatever pain he was feeling, but from his wincing she could tell the question only bothered him more. What had he been through?

"It's….an ocarina…" he answered regardless.

"Oh, I've never seen one of those before."

Silence. Malon sighed, it was hard to make small talk when only one person was speaking, so she decided she might as well get to her point.

"Listen….I know our affairs have nothing to do with you, and you've already done a lot for me and my father….but—would it be all right if I asked you for another favor?"

Link's eyes hardened and his face became taught. "What is it?"

Malon shifted her weight. "You're a swordsman right?"

"……Yes."

"Well, I don't know how much experience you've had, but—it's more than I've got anyway, and I was wondering if you would, help us find our friend that went missing…."

"Mr. Ingo?"

"Yeah."

Link thought about it for a minute. Though he had never been very fond of the man, or his twin counterparts in that other world, he could in no manner let him suffer. It went against every fiber in his being to refuse a plea for help, he knew it. He fought back another bitter laugh. Hyrule itself wasn't the only thing that hadn't changed. But, was it a good idea? Should he continue to travel the land and help random strangers along his way? Of course he knew the answer. Getting roped up in other's problems was apparently his destiny, and when the day was saved, they would thank him and forget him. Of course he would help Malon, she wasn't exactly a stranger to him, but could he allow her to forget him after this, again? No. His expression suddenly became fierce and Malon took a step away.

"I'll help you Malon, but on one condition." Link felt a little rebellious. He had never asked for anything in return before.

"What condition? Do you want money?"

"No. When I bring Indgo back, I want—" what did he want?—"I want to be able to live here. I'll work on your ranch in exchange."

Malon studied him. "That's it?"

That's it. Typical, she doesn't understand.

That was it. What he wanted. He remembered a time so, so, long ago now it didn't even exist, when he was thrown into the heat of his first journey. Lost, starving, and dying in the harsh desert; searching for a temple that could not be found. A boy with white cloth wrapped around his face had saved him. In the glow of their campfire he had lost his control and all of his worries, fears, and frustrations had poured out of him at that moment.

"Everything has changed so much! It's not fair! I can't do this anymore! Everyone else has grown older, wiser, and I never got that chance to go with them! Everyone else had those 'seven years' but I didn't! This body is an adult, but on the inside I'm just a kid!"

The boy's red eyes stared patiently up at him, calm, wise, waiting. Just like always. His strange, musical voice reached out to him from the folds that hid his mouth.

"Is that—what you miss the most, Hero of Time?"

He did not remember what he answered, but no, that was not what he had missed the most. Even what he missed now, was not what he missed the most, but maybe now, he could have just one of his wishes granted. If he could stay, and live with Malon and the others on the ranch, maybe now he would finally have a place to call home.

"I've never belonged anywhere," he whispered to her, "I've never had a place to go home to, and I want that now. I think this place could be it."

"Of course."

Malon's immediate reply surprised him. He had not expected her to accept him so quickly, it was such a selfish request. Malon reached out to his hands without any real thought. Her smile warmed the ice in his stomach.

"Of course you can live here. I was suspious about you at first, but suddenly…I feel like I've known you my whole life. I can't explain it. The sound of your voice just now….it was so familiar. I hope I'm not scaring you." She let her hands fall.

"No, it's okay. I—I feel the same way."

He smiled now, warm and genuine. "Stay inside with Talon. I'll bring back Ingo safely."

With a quick whistle from his ocarina, the might horse flashed to his side and he mounted swiftly. As Epona shot forward, he felt a sudden sense of excitement and rush of adrenaline, such things only woke in his body when a quest was afoot. Now, for the first time since that evil had overtaken him in the woods seven years ago, he had a purpose. Malon watched as Link's stead soared through the air over the tall gate, sunlight glinting off a long silver blade raised high above his head.