The sky was grim – more so than since the kingdom fell to darkness.

A red setting sun bled crimson on the looming grey clouds that shrouded it, and ominous gusty winds blew.

The erratic blasts of air rustled the parched grass of Hyrule Field as they traveled to a small ranch on top of a hill. The gales whirled nosily against the creaky wooden buildings of the ranch, then fell to an eerie silence.

Some horses that were previously grazing in the corral began to whinny nervously, eyes widening, on the verge of panic.

Something nefarious was afoot.

A rogue gust suddenly ripped through a bed of fallen autumn leaves and stole them from the earth in a whirlwind, spooking the horses and sending them into flight toward their stables. Their terrified hooves trampled the dry ground – their wild manes whipped the heavy air.

Hearing the commotion, a young woman warily emerged from the main building of the ranch, her home, and was taken aback by the heavens' intimidating display. The wind threatened her by blasting through her long red hair as she swung the door open.

"Dear Farore..." she prayed, "what brings this evil in the wind?"

Cautiously, she stole into the stables to calm and secure her horses. She took note of the scent in the air as she ran to the barn: musky and bitter, like dying leaves, mixed with moisture and ozone of an advancing thunderstorm.

Once inside the barn, she quelled her horses' nerves with her sweet voice. "It's alright, you'll be okay. It's just some weather, that's all. It may be a little scary but it will go away soon," she hummed while leading the horses to their stalls to reassure them that they are safe. However, despite her words, a twinge of fear remained within her as she lovingly stroked their necks.

"How strange... it was all sunshine earlier today," she remembered. "The horses are so frightened, they may be sensing something I cannot. What could have happened? Could this be a... curse...?"

Not a mile from the ranch, just at the foot of the hill, a lone, heavy-set mare was making her way to the ranch. She fought the howl of the wind, trying to maintain her careful pace.

Her chestnut body and white mane was splashed like a canvas by another's deep red paint.

The burden she bore on her back was crooked and slumped over in the saddle, like a pitiful sack. It sway almost lifelessly to-and-fro with the rhythm of the horse's steps – she was careful not to jostle it too much.

This burden was the reason for her quest, and the ranch was the only place she could think to go. The figure balanced and supported itself with as little effort as possible by leaning on hands that were firmly planted on the pommel of the saddle.

In her desire to get to the top of the hill fast enough, the mare misstepped in a hole in the earth and stumbled. The limp figure gurgled a restrained moan at the sudden jerk in the horse's gait. The body somehow maintained its balance and the animal marched on toward the ranch on the hill. Anxiously, she continued on, slower than she'd have liked.

There wasn't much time.

Another fierce wind roared and threatened to push her cargo off its seat, yet it managed to barely hold on; the mare moved on.

The dying body was wracked with tremors as it coughed through fluid.

The mare moved on.

More splashes of deep red fell to the brittle grass.

The mare, in final desperation, moved on.

The red-haired girl was pitching hay into stalls and distributing feed. She considered staying in the barn for the duration of the unusual weather for the sake of keeping her horses calm. However, she realized the sun was setting quickly, and the oncoming storm was not going to spare the ranch. She decided it would be more prudent to get back inside the house before things got out of hand.

Nervously, she opened the great wooden door of the barn and began to creep outside into the unrelenting wind. As she took a few steps outside the barn, she beheld a horrific sight.

"Epona?" she questioned in disbelief.

The enormous, chestnut, Clydesdale mare she knew all too well marched up to and halted before her with red smears on her flanks, neck, and mane.

Horse and maiden looked into one another's eyes in an attempt to communicate. Epona snorted nervously trying to convey the urgency of her plight.

The girl quickly found the source of her old equine friend's distress; the source of all the red marks - a badly mangled young man sagging in the saddle. She gasped, the sight seared forever in her mind.

So much blood.

Shredded clothes.

Lacerated and swollen flesh.

"Link..." she whispered in horror. How could it have come to this? The knight she loved was nearly unrecognizable.

"Malon..." the figure managed to groan in reply. "I... can't...!"

Another wave of tremors shook the man as he choked on blood and fluid. The motion swayed his aching body, and he limply plummeted from the horse's saddle to the dirt.

Malon threw her arms out in a vain attempt to catch him, but she only slowed his fall. She went down with him, clutching his torso tightly to her; her only solace was she stopped his head from hitting the ground. She knelt in the grass, holding his back to her to support him.

"Link! Link...?!" she called to him, but there was no answer.

Distant thunder began to roll. Epona whinnied nervously and pawed at the ground around them.

Malon was petrified in the moment. How was this possible? Did this really happen? She felt a sickening numbness as she sat with Link slumped into her – a morbid scene resembling a Hylian pietà.

"Goddesses!" she screamed into the cursed wind when she came back to her senses, "Link! Please, love, don't! No! ...Not like this!"

The young man, covered in blood, blemished her white blouse on contact.

"I have to do something!... The storm!"

She looked at Epona with fear in her eyes.

"Go!" she yelled at the horse, "Epona, into the barn!"

The mare snorted reluctantly, but did as she was commanded and trotted off into the barn with the other horses.

Using all her power and praying for strength, Malon dragged the fallen hero twenty yards or so through the grass and into her home as fast as she could before the storm unleashed its fury. It took every ounce of her will not to descend into a panic of helplessness. She dragged him over the threshold of her home and across the main room, leaving streaks of blood on the wooden planks.

Then she reached the stairs.

"...I have to get him up there...!"

She refused to be left helpless and back down. Malon was going to fight for Link's life with everything she had.

The resulting adrenaline gave her the strength to pull Link upstairs, into her room, and to the base of her bed. She hoisted him onto the straw mattress despite her trembling limbs.

She adjusted Link so he lay on his back on the bed, and reached for her right boot. She pulled out a simple sharp dagger out of it and grabbed at the collar of Link's tunic.

"KRRrrrrr...!"

The zipping sound of tearing woven fabric.

With Link's tunic and undershirt in her left hand, she ran the blade through the green and white fabric with the other in one swipe. The fabric ripped open, revealing the reality of Link's beaten and bloody flesh.

A legion of cuts and gashes created a macabre network upon Link's torso. Malon couldn't believe it.

"You..." she whispered, " You should be dead..."

Malon covered her mouth immediately after the word "dead" escaped her lips. Afraid she may already be too late, she gently pressed her trembling hand to the center of his flayed chest. She held it there for a moment...

Link drew breath quickly and it was frighteningly shallow. His pulse was rapid, but it was so faint Malon could barely feel his heart beating at all. It was more like a light and frantic flutter under her hand than the strong and steady beat it should have been.

"He's still alive..." she assessed, "but he won't be for long! His heart is beating so fast-"

Malon looked at Link's blood-drenched clothes and realized just how much blood he lost.

"It's trying so hard to pump the little blood he has left. He doesn't have much time!"

Outside, the thundering continued and it had now begun to rain heavily on the roof of the house.

Malon ran from Link's bedside, red hair thrashing as she raced, to a cabinet downstairs in the kitchen and removed a medical kit. Putting the kit on a kitchen counter, Malon examined the items inside.

Rolls of thin white fabric, heavier bandages, scissors, a bottle of red potion, and other healing supplies made up its contents.

"Perfect!" she managed a small smile.

Link might just have a chance.

She rushed back to the straw bed, back to her dear hero, and unpacked the kit.

The supplies lay on the bed next to her patient as she completely cut off the rest of the tunic and undershirt from him with her dagger.

Gently, she removed Link's cap.

His blond hair was clotted with dry blood.

She saw that his face was very pale from blood loss, bruised, dirty, and his split lips were still slowly bleeding.

His arms were cut, and more precious blood was leaking from the lacerations on his torso.

She ran back to the kitchen and took a large basin from under the kitchen sink and filling it with cool, clean water.

Careful not to trip and spill everything, she brought it back to Link's bedside and immediately went to work.

She first needed to clean Link's wounds in order to see them, so she grabbed a white towel from the pile of supplies she dumped on the straw previously. Into the basin it went, soaking up the pristine well water. Malon took it out and wrung it so it wasn't sopping wet.

With the utmost care and tenderness, she dabbed Link's most severe injuries with the wet cloth. Dried blood began to loosen and wipe away.

She continued to clean the wounds on his chest and stomach and soothe them with the cool towel. As she washed the cloth periodically, the blood it soaked up turned the water red.

At last, his wounds were a bit cleaner than they had been and she could see them better.

Despite her careful efforts however, two of the deepest gashes began to ooze blood even more, their clots dislodged.

"...Shit...!" It was unlike Malon to curse, but considering the circumstances, that was all she had to say.

She took several cloth pads and pressed them hard against the two deep fissures in Link's skin.

"Hold still!" she told them, though she knew her commands made no difference. She needed to close those wounds, and fast.

The rain continued its unstoppable barrage and the wind howled mournfully against the wooden walls of her home. It seemed to want to come inside and take Link's soul with it.

"Like hell you will!" she cried at it in defiance.

A tiny silver glint of light caught her eye. It was a very thin needle; so thin, it bent with the slightest pressure of her finger, then returned to its original shape.

Malon took the needle in her fingers and found a spool of white cotton thread near it. After a few attempts, the needle's tiny eye was threaded.

Malon pulled one side of the first wound closed with her left hand.

She took a deep breath, steadied her right hand near the wound, and pushed the needle through Link's skin, making the first stitch on the gash across his chest.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered in discomfort.

She never wanted to have to do this to him.

She made another stitch, and another, and another...

As she stitched near his sternum, she could again feel his hastened pulse under her working fingers.

How close the wound was to his heart, she though. It was as if his attacker was aiming for it.

"If they had cut any deeper..." Malon shuddered at the thought.

She had to focus.

She had to save him.

Soon the wound on Link's chest was closed up, and the blood around it was cleaned up again. Malon pressed another cloth pad to it firmly and moved on to close up the second wound, the one on Link's midsection.

The laceration was only halfway closed when Malon's patient began to rouse. She froze, wide-eyed, and stared, studying his face.

Link groaned in pain and lethargically lifted his head up off the mattress, trying to look up at his angel with sore eyes. He instantly recognized her and tried to speak.

"Mal- It... hurts-"

"No!" Malon scolded immediately. "Lay back down and relax, right now! Link..." Malon's voice began to softened, "I know it hurts, Sweetheart, I know. You were hurt real bad!"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to comfort Link, but she refused to let them fall.

Now was not the time.

"You lost a lot of blood," she continued. "You almost died...! Lay back down, please. I'm trying -" her voice hitched, "I'm trying to fix you..."

Whether he obeyed her or he lost consciousness again, Link slowly faded out and reclined back down on the bed. Malon regained her focus and finished stitching the second wound.

The worst was over with, but Link still had many cuts and bloody wounds on his body prone to infection.

There was also the critical matter of Link needing to recover the copious amount of blood he lost.

Malon took the bottle of red liquid from the pile of supplies on the bed and uncorked it. It smelled of weak alcohol and various red berries, with a metallic undertone.

"This has to work," she breathed.

Red potion was known to be effective in helping seal wounds and functioned similarly to blood once it entered the veins. Malon grasped the towel she used before in cleaning Link's wounds and saturated it with the syrupy red liquid.

Carefully, she rubbed it into Link's wounds and into the stitches.

It seemed to be helping a little. The wounds ceased their bleeding almost completely, and the smaller cuts were closing up, becoming pink lines with much less inflammation and swelling.

Relief swept over Malon like a clean and refreshing breeze.

"It's working," she sighed.

She dabbed a little more of the potion on Link's busted mouth, and a little over his bruised face.

His lips were slightly parted, so she poured just a few drops of the potion in his mouth.

Next, she carefully wrapped the rolls of thin white fabric around all his injuries, each wound having the potion rubbed into it. She began to relax and sighed softly in relief.

"He's going to be alright now. I just know it. He has to be."

Having finished bandaging Link, Malon moved the medical supplies off the bed and on top of her nightstand, and covered Link up with an old quilt her mother made years ago.

It was was getting darker in the room now.

The sun had almost set completely, and the storm was still raging on.

Strong winds moaned outside and the deluge assaulted the dwelling, but Malon knew she and her love were safe inside. The wooden ranch house had survived much more than this windy storm.

She quietly walked to the edge of the room and sat down on the floor, propping herself up against the wall. Large raindrops fell, and Malon watched as millions of them committed mass suicide upon the window she sat next to. The sound of the rain had a hypnotic effect, and Malon found herself reflecting on what had just occurred at the ranch as she stared blankly outside, lost in her thoughts.

What would have happened if she wasn't able to fix Link?

He lost an incredible amount of blood... Would he really be able to replenish it even with the red potion?

How long would that take?

How would his body deal with such severe trauma?

She loved him with all her heart.

And he loved her. Just as much.

What if they never got to live out their lives together?

Malon turned to look at Link lying in her bed and pushed these thoughts and fears from her mind. They were too exhausting to entertain now. The last thing she needed was to angst over possibilities she could not control. She did what she could for him, to the best of her abilities.

Malon got up off the floor and walked back to the bedside to tuck Link in some more in an attempt to give him the most security and warmth she possibly could.

He needed to rest well.

She returned to her spot against the wall, realizing she was exhausted now that Link was stable. Nevertheless, she fought sleep, watching vigilantly to make sure Link was breathing.

Later in the night, the torrent of rain began to weaken into a light shower.

Malon had unintentionally fallen asleep; she sat slumped over against the wall she was leaning on. A distant peal of thunder suddenly woke her with a start.

She looked around her surroundings disoriented.

The room was dark now.

She groggily stood up, a little sore from sleeping in an odd fashion. She felt around as she walked the edge of the room, looking for the oil lamp she knew was on her desk.

At last she found it, along with the box of matches that sat next to it. She struck one against the box, and lit the lamp. The flame's warm yellow-orange glow radiated out into the room.

"Link?" she whispered almost inaudibly to see if he might be awake.

The lamplight danced around the room as Malon turned around to face the straw bed.

Link's face was illuminated by the light.

He was in the same position she left him in, still covered by her blanket. He was sound asleep, and the wounds Malon could see on his face seemed to have healed quite a bit within the few hours she slept, thanks to the red potion.

Malon slowly walked over to Link's bedside.

He looked peaceful.

Beaten to a pulp, yes, but peaceful in his sleep.

She set her oil lamp on the nightstand next to the pile of medical supplies, and gently pulled back the quilt to inspect Link's more serious wounds and to check his vitals.

None of the bandages seeped any new blood through them, which was a very good sign. Link wasn't bleeding anymore since she applied the red potion and bandages.

She studied the smaller cuts on his body and was surprised and thankful to see how much the potion had really helped them heal.

Malon watched as Link's bandaged chest rose up and down, calmly and evenly.

"That's good. He's breathing deeply now - not erratically as before."

Malon carefully sat down on the bed next to the hero. She leaned over him and gently touched her lips to his forehead, both checking his temperature as well as placing a chaste kiss.

His forehead felt warm, but not too hot.

Like it should have been.

She felt better about the prospect of an infection setting in. If his temperature wasn't high now, he wasn't very likely to have one at all because the red potion in his blood would help prevent one from occurring.

She then scooted down the side of the bed a little, and leaned over him once again. This time she turned her head to the side and very gently, as to not cause him any further pain, put an ear to her love's marred chest, to assess the part of him that had given her the most grief and concern.

His heart.

… Lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub...

A soft sigh passed Malon's lips, carrying away tension and stress with it.

She closed her eyes, relaxed, and quietly listened as the hero's heart beat strongly and steadily inside him.

The heart that, thankfully, refused to quit, as stubborn and courageous as the man it kept alive.

The heart he gave to her.

It still beat faster than normal, she noted, but it was much more controlled now that he'd begun healing and his blood was replenishing.

Malon thought of the times Link would hold her close to him. She always felt safe enveloped in his arms.

How could she not?

He was a hero who vanquished evil and countless monsters, he was undeniably strong. Yet, he held her to his chest with such tenderness and care, so close to his heart where he was most vulnerable, guarding her almost literally with his life.

To her, he was gentle, loving, and soft. When she could feel and hear Link's heart pounding inside him, it was like physically feeling all of his love.

And to think she could have lost that today... She was grateful he was making a quick recovery from the brink of death, his heartbeat now bringing her comfort that he was still alive and with her.

"I knew you could pull through. You're too strong to die now."

Her whisper did not go unheard.

Link stirred a little, and Malon rose her head off his chest to see if he was okay.

His eyes slowly crept half-open, and he blinked sleepily.

His vision was a little blurry, but he could make out Malon's face.

"You..." Link smiled weakly. Malon smiled back and lovingly stroked his disheveled hair.

"Yea, Link... It's me. Sweetheart, do you remember what happened?" she asked softly.

Link slowly shook his head with a contemplative look on his face.

"Maybe you'll remember later. We'll talk about it when you're feeling better, okay? You're still in bad shape. Do you need anything? Something to bring up your strength maybe?"

Her patient nodded slowly.

Malon gently kissed Link's cheek, and bent down to pick up the bottle of remaining red potion from the floor.

"Don't move now. Not a finger." She made her way to the kitchen again to fix a remedy.

Malon threw split logs of firewood into the stove in the kitchen and lit them with a match. The smoky woody smell of a fire soon filled the area.

While the fire in the stove crackled and grew warmer, Malon went over to a bookshelf in the main room and pulled out a large and heavy tome bound with leather and decorated with a motif of leaves. It was very old, having been passed down through her family for generations.

She carried it back to the kitchen and laid it open to the index on a counter. She ran a finger down the page as she perused the index for a recipe she could use to help Link.

There it was - Chateau Romani.

The renowned drink that famously brought immense energy to those who drank it.

Malon turned to the recipe's page and read it carefully.

Fortunately, its base ingredient was milk, which she had more than enough.

She procured a small pot from a cabinet, set it on the now thoroughly-warmed stove, and poured a bottle of the best of Lon Lon Ranch's famous milk into it. It poured from the bottle like the smoothest, most luscious, cream.

"This should give him energy. After all, we have the most nutritious milk in the kingdom!" she hoped as she heated the milk.

Once it began to slowly steam, Malon uncorked the glass potion bottle one last time and poured the remaining tablespoons of the slightly alcoholic red potion into the milk. The mixture turned a slight pinkish-white hue.

She also took a tiny vial hidden deep in the back of a drawer. This vial had a liquid in it similar to the red potion, but this one was blue.

Three drops of the blue potion were dripped into the hot milk mixture.

"That should speed his healing a lot." She could smell the berry-scented alcohol wafting up from the warm milk mixture. It was relatively pleasant. A bit strange, but pleasant.

The recipe next called for some relatively common healing herbs that Malon had dried and stored away in round clay containers sitting on the counter.

She opened the jars and pulled out one leaf of the Deku Tree, a mushroom from the Kokiri Forest, and some bark from a Deku Baba.

Taking out another pot, she filled it with water and set it on the stove, waiting for it to boil. When it did, she threw the herbs in and continued to boil them for 10 minutes to make a very powerful decoction.

Unlike the warm, fruit-scented milk, this liquid was astringent and incredibly bitter.

Malon was questioning whether the author of this particular recipe had a sick sense of humor, asking the cook to dump this brown unpalatable swamp water into the rich milk. She checked the book again:

"Craft a decoction from a leaf of the Deku Tree, a Kokiri Forest mushroom, and the bark of a Deku Baba. Decoct the ingredients in boiling water for a minimum of 10 minutes.

The Chateau Romani only requires 5 drops of this decoction – avoid adding more as the bitter taste will ruin the whole batch.

One may, however, keep the rest of the decoction as an antiseptic and astringent. As an ointment, it will help in healing wounds, while taken orally will help heal mouth sores, and even cure indigestion."

"Well, I suppose I am making two useful potions at the same time," Malon chuckled.

She proceeded to drip five drops into the milk, hoping the bitterness wouldn't destroy her hard work.

Finally, she took a small pinch of salt from another clay container, and mixed it into the pot.

The milk had to simmer for a while longer according to the recipe, so in the mean time she cleaned out the empty red potion bottle and strained the liquid of the herbal decoction into it. She labeled it, and decided to use it on Link's wounds since there was no more red potion left anywhere in the house.

After brewing the drink for the last remaining minutes, she poured her Chateau Romani into what must have been a Goron-sized clay mug, and carried it back upstairs to the bedroom.

Link was still awake when Malon got back.

"Not sure how great this will taste," she started, motioning to the mug of Chateau Romani in her hands, "but it will help you get better."

Malon walked over to and sat down on the bed next to Link and pushed an arm behind him and around his shoulders, helping him to sit up. Link started to bring a hand up to the mug when Malon stopped him.

"Try not to move around too much. Let me help you, love."

She placed the mug to his lips and watched him sip, making sure he could swallow properly and did not choke.

The potion tasted a little odd, but it wasn't terrible. It was milk, but it had a slightly mature bitter herbal flavor that was actually kinda nice, especially with the berry hints.

Link sipped it for a while, though his cut lips stung when the warm liquid touched them. He didn't really mind. He was finally taking in some sort of energy - something that would fill and soothe his aching stomach.

After a minute or two, Link was finished with his drink and Malon took the mug from him, setting it down on the desk.

"Thank you," said Link.

"You're very welcome," Malon returned, her eyes glazed with love and affection. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you."

She leaned down and gingerly kissed Link's healing lips.

Link closed his eyes, relishing Malon's soft and warm lips, and kissed her back.

It was a miracle he was kissing her at all; he'd come so close to never being able to ever again.

They parted, and Malon placed on more loving kiss on his forehead.

Link looked down and noticed his tunic was gone and that his torso was bare, save for the bandages wrapped around him. He looked a little puzzled at their number.

"Don't touch those," said Malon, noticing the look of confusion on Link's face. "You were a mess. I had to stitch you shut. Just let them heal, Link. I have a potion we can wash them with later."

"You saved my life, Malon. You and Epona."

"I'm glad she made it here in time for me to help you. You were flitting in and out of consciousness, I don't think you would have made it if she came here any later. Please, Link, don't scare me like this again. I don't want to lose you..." She reached for this hand and held it. "Promise?"

Link nodded his head and, closing his eyes, lay back down in the straw. He was sore all over and wanted to go back to sleep.

"Are you feeling okay...?" Malon asked, concerned.

"Yeah... Just really tired. Hey, Mal... " Link murmured sleepily, "...Lay with me?"

Malon's face flushed a little as she chuckled light-heartedly.

"Sure, Fairy Boy. If that's what you want. I just don't want to hurt you."

Malon carefully slipped in under the quilt next to her hero, avoiding touching or pushing on his wounds.

He put his arm around her as she settled her head below his collarbone. She stroked his stomach with a feather-light touch as he drifted off to sleep.

His deep breathing comforted her; her eyelids got heavier as time went by.

Soon, her arms were around him in a tender, protective embrace, and she herself was falling asleep, confident she wasn't going to lose him in the night.

"My love... You're going to be okay... You're going..." and sleep took hold before she could finish the thought.