The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time - Part Two: The Quest

Chapter Eight: A Goron Problem

A particularly boisterous Cucco call was what finally roused Link from his slumber. Stifling a yawn, he stretched as he sat up, remembering the last time he was in here. It certainly wasn't the most pleasant of circumstances, getting sliced up by stalchildren before landing up in here. Curious, he reached behind him, attempting to feel the wound, or the remains of it. He cringed as his muscled protested the act, as his fingertips brushed raised skin. Scarred, obviously, and still not quite healed if his muscles were anything to go by. Still, he hadn't felt any scabbing, which meant the wound had closed up nicely.

Rotating his shoulders in an attempt to ease out some of the tension, He shuffled out of bed to dress himself. The last thing he reached for was his cap, but he stopped inches from grabbing it. He smiled. A faint blue pulse from within was all the indication he needed to know that Navi still slept soundly. Deciding not to wake her, he instead brushed his blond hair from his face and made to exit the room, making sure to leave the door open a few inches for her.

His first observation walking outside was that it was still fairly early into the morning; the sky was bright, but the sun was yet to be visible above the ranch walls, and the shadows were long. And already the ranch seemed so alive, he had to wonder just how early did the day start for the people here. He passed by Mr. Ingo, who was feeding the cuccos beside the house, who only gave a curt nod towards his direction, muttering to himself. He caught only a handful of words, among them being "Lazy" and "Talon," which made him grin. Evidently, Talon was not the most agreeable person to work with in Mr. Ingo's eyes.

There were fewer horses out on the range than last time—the others were being cared for in the stables—but he was still easily able to spot the pair whom he searched for. Sure enough, just like last time, He found Malon standing in the center of the field, Epona grazing beside her as her mane was being brushed. She was humming the same song as before too, a smile plastered on her face that he couldn't help but share.

"Morning!" he greeted cheerily, causing Malon to jump, startled, he laughed. "What, didn't expect me till later?"

"No, you just snuck u-" She stopped mid-sentence, staring at him, before suddenly giggling. "Y-your hair looks funny, forest boy!" she laughed, pointing to emphasize the fact. "Where's your hat?!"

He felt himself turning red, and instinctively reached up in an attempt to make his hair tamer. Apparently this only made it worse, because she only started laughing harder. Epona simply looked up, curious of the noise, and after a moment went back to grazing. At least she didn't care about his hair.

Giving up, and still blushing, he forced himself to pretend nothing was amiss. "My hat is currently being used as a bed, so I am without it for a while."

"o-oh, that's too bad ... and kinda' cute too," she added, regaining her composure. She still let out a giggle when she looked at him though. "Anyway, you just snuck up on me, was what I was going to say, before … that." She giggled again, but waved her hand as if to dismiss the matter. "How long will you be staying? You said he had to go back to Kakariko, right?"

"Yeah, that's a few hours to walk, but me and Navi agreed we—"

"Navi and I, you mean?" She interrupted.

"Would … uh, what?"

"'Navi and I,' not 'me and Navi;' that's not proper language, daddy always tells me so." She nodded sagaciously; Talon was an adult as well as her dad, and adults knew almost everything.

"Uhh … right … so, Navi and I," he paused, emphasizing the correction, "agreed we would want to rest there before going to Death Mountain, so we probably will leave in the early afternoon."