Chapter 6: The Secret of the Song
Opening his eyes, Link found he was in a the Malon's home in Lon Lon Ranch. Looking out the window he could tell he was on the second floor and as he examined the room noticing the drawings of horses left on the table, the dresses hanging on hooks in the closet and the smell he recognized on the blanket and bedsheets of the bed he found himself in that this was Malon's room.
Navi was fluttering around the room. When she saw that Link was awake she flew over to him. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Fine," answered Link. "I didn't expect that horse to go wild like that. It wasn't a lot different than the other horses."
"Of course it isn't," stated Ingo as he entered the room. "That is Epona and the only person she is comfortable around is Malon. I don't know what got into you in that barn, but for your own sake and mine stay away from that horse."
"Well, why is Malon the only one Epona likes?" asked Link getting out of bed and looking out the window. There he saw Malon gently brushing Epona's mane, the horse standing at ease.
"I suppose it's because the two of them are the same," commented Ingo. "That's about the only thing I can figure."
"The same?" questioned Link. "What's that mean?"
"It's none of your business," answered Ingo. He then placed a bottle of milk onto the table with a sharp thud. "Here, drink some of this. It'll make you feel better."
"Um, thanks," replied Link, uncorking the bottle. "That's very nice of you."
"It was Malon's idea," admitted Ingo. "So drink it up."
Taking a few chugs till it was only half full. The milk was cold, but it warmed his insides and removed any lingering fatigue Link had in his body. "This stuff is great!" exclaimed Link. "What is it?"
"I take if you aren't pulling my leg this time either," sighed Ingo. "That there is Lon Lon Milk. You won't find any better milk in all of Hyrule and it won't go back no matter how long it's kept. And if you are wondering where we get the milk look over towards the barn in the far back. See the large animals over there?" Link peered through the window and saw the large bovines graving around there.
"Those are cows," explained Ingo. "Milk comes from them."
"Yeah, I see them," nodded Link, but the longer he looked the more his stomach felt queasy and his face reflected it. Taking the cork, he placed it back onto the bottle of milk.
"That's the look a lot of folks give when they first learn about milk," laughed Ingo. "You'll get used to the idea eventually." In a somewhat better mood, Ingo left the room and went back downstairs.
"Are you okay, Link?" asked Navi as she watched him place the bottle of milk in with the rest of his supplies and head for the door.
"I'm fine," stated Link. "How long was I asleep for?"
"About an hour," replied Navi. "Maybe a little longer."
"Then not too much time has passed," stated Link. "We don't have a lot of time and I want to try and at least try and learn how to ride a horse today."
"You are a lot more stubborn than I thought," sighed Navi. "I thought you'd be too afraid to go near a horse after your experience on Epona."
"I was frightened," admitted Link. "But not as scared as she was."
"You mean Epona?" questioned Navi.
"Yeah," continued Link. "She was terrified just because I got close to her and while I was hanging onto her I don't even think she noticed that I was there. She was just running scared."
"If that's true, then what can you hope to do?" said Navi.
"Talk to Malon for starters," replied Link. Leaving the house, Link ran over to Malon. As he neared her, Epona quickly hurried away.
"Hi there Fairy Boy," Malon called waving to him. "Sorry about Epona. She's really shy around strangers."
"Yeah I know," replied Link rubbing his head.
"Oh, yeah," remember Malon. "I hope you weren't hurt."
"It's ok," said Link. "I'm fine and that cranky guy gave me that milk stuff you told him to give me. Now I feel perfectly fine and I'm ready to give horse riding another try."
"That's great to hear," Malon giggled happily. "I'll go get one of the horses from the barn."
"Actually," stated Link. "I want to ride Epona."
"But Epona won't let anyone ride her," she explained. "Even I can't get on her back or she will start to run wild."
"What about that song?" asked Link. "That calmed her down."
"It's the song my mother always used to sing for the animals here," she continued to say. "It is all she left me."
"Do you think you could teach me?" said Link talking out the Ocarina he received from Saria. "Could I learn to play it on this?"
"That's a lovely instrument," Malon replied admiring the instrument. "If you know how to play it then I could at least try and teach you the song."
"My friend Saria showed me how to play it a while ago," Link told her. "It's been a while, but I still remember." Holding the instrument up to his mouth and his fingers positioned on top of the holes, Link played one note at a time regaining a feel for it. "I think I'm ready."
"Then let's start with the first few notes," instructed Saria the first three notes several times then waited for Link to repeat. Slowly, Link attempted to play, his first few attempts he played the wrong notes. "Listen again, very closely." Singing again, Link played managing to match the right notes this time. He played it again and again until he became comfortable with it.
"Ok, I think I'm ready for the next set of notes," commented Link excitedly.
"We were supposed to find a princess," sighed Navi watching Link listen intently to Malon play and then tried himself. Every time he he messed up he blushed with embarrassment and Malon smiled and a gave a light chuckle before he tried again. "He got sidetracked wanting to learn how to ride a horse and then to learn this song. Does he even remember why we came out here?"
"Don't forget to breathe," cried Malon after Link's face turned red as he made another attempt.
"Sorry," panted Link. "I thought I had it and I didn't want to stop midway through it."
"Yeah, you almost had it," she encouraged. "Give it one more try, but take a few good breaths first." Nodding, Link filled his lungs with air and then began to play with his best concentration. Link carefully played through the song one note slowly after another and finally managed to play it from start to end without making an error. Link tried playing it again and again, the pace of his playing speeding up with each iteration and each time he managed to play with not one finger out of place.
"Did I do it?" asked Link as he finished playing.
"You did," she nodded smiling brightly. "You picked the song up fast and played it so well. That last attempt sounded perfect too."
"It did?" replied Link an astonished look on his face, but as he turned to Epona drinking some water he scratched his head confused. "But if I played it right why didn't it work?"
"Well, you did play it right, but, well, I don't know how to explain it," Malon admitted. "I think there was something missing."
"Missing?" questioned Link. "But that was the entire song, right?"
"The song, but something is missing from you," she explained. "That's what I think at least."
"Maybe I should try with something smaller," suggested Link. "What's the smallest animal you have here?"
"That would be the Cuckcoos," she answered. "But they can be quite temperamental."
"I'll be careful," said Link. "They are in that small house over there, right?" Not waiting for an answer, Link ran over to it.
"Fairy Boy sure is a strange one," thought Malon as he ran off with a determined look on his face. "But he's willing to go through all this trouble just to ride Epona. Maybe he's stubborn enough to get through to actually get her to let him ride her." Malon pondered this for a moment, then noticed the sky was turning a pale orange as the sun was dipping below the horizon. "It's already this late?" She turned towards the front gate of the ranch to see Ingo locking it up. "Father still hasn't come back yet and it's almost night."
"All locked up for the night," said Ingo as he locked the padlock on the gate. "Now I can get some chow then hit the hay, but since Talon isn't here I take his bed and sleep in comfort for a change."
"Hello, Mr. Ingo," Malon called as she trotted up on a dark brown horse.
"Wah!" he cried and quickly covered over his mouth. "Uh, oh, hi, Miss Malon. I was just here locking up for the night as per usual."
"But my father hasn't returned," she replied. "I'm getting worried. He should have come home by now from delivering milk to Hyrule Castle."
"Well, perhaps the lazy oaf, uh, I mean he probably decided to be cautious and spend the night over there and come home in the morning."
"You are probably right," agreed Malon. "But what if he is out in Hyrule Field? What if something happened and he's stuck out there unable to get back here or return to Hyrule Castle Town? It is too dangerous to be out in Hyrule Field at night."
"Don't think like that," Ingo stated. "You are getting yourself worked up over nothing."
"I can't lose him!" snapped Malon, her anger flared up and startled Ingo to the ground. Quickly as it came, her anger subsided and became calm again. "I'm sorry, but I lost my mother already. I can't handle losing my father too."
"You sure are a lot like your mother," commented Ingo giving her a smile. "She took care of Talon more like he was a child rather than her husband and now you are doing the same thing. However, this is something too dangerous for you to do. I'm going to have to put my foot down. The gate is going to stay locked and not open again until sunrise and that is final." He dropped the key into the pocket in his overalls and crossed his arms with an adamant look on his face.
"I understand," sighed Malon. "I'll return bring her back to the barn then come in for supper."
"That's a good girl," said Ingo. "You do that and I guess call the kid to come on it too."
"I will," she nodded and started to ride away from the gate. Quickly glancing back, she saw Ingo had stepped walked away from the center of the gate. Tugging at the horse's reins and pressing it's side with her left leg she turned it back around. Then she squeezed her legs on the horse and prompted it to start galloping forward at the gate, quickly building up its speed. As she came to the gate she stood up on her horse and tightened the reins. With a mighty jump, Malon jumped the gate just as Ingo turned back to see her clear it and ride off into Hyrule Field.
"Malon!" he cried fearfully. "Don't go! It'll be dark soon and you'll be in danger!" Grasping the gate and pushing and tugging at it he continued to yell at her to turn around, but his efforts failed. Looking at the lock, he reached into his pocket for the key, but stopped and collapsed to the ground and pounded at the dirt. "I'm such pitiful man!"
"That was interesting," thought Navi having seen the scene take place from afar. "Not sure what they were talking about, but that girl jumped the gate in a hurry."
"Ah!" screamed Link at the top of his lungs. "Somebody help me!"
"Link!" cried Navi turning towards him. "What's the matter?"
"They're trying to kill me!" he cried as the flock of Cuckcoos flapped and flutter after him, ruffled feathers trailing behind them as they chased him down.
"What in Hyrule?" stated Navi at a loss for what she was seeing. Flying towards Link, grabbed onto his ear. "Hurry into the barn and shut the door behind you!"
Listening to Navi's instructions, Link rushed into the barn and quickly shut the door behind him and placed the locking board on the doors. Even so, the Cuckcoos rammed and scratched at the door with starting fury. The horses in the stables neighed fearfully sensing the danger coming from outside.
"Malon said Cuckcoos were temperamental, but I was less afraid of Queen Gohma than I am of them right now," panted Link.
"Well, Cuckcoos are normally peaceful and gentle by nature," explained Navi. "Until someone does something to provoke them. Even if it is only one that is provoked all the Cuckcoos for miles will instantly become enraged at the provoker and go after them in a murderous rage. What did you do to them?"
"Nothing," cried Link. "I just walked into that little house they were in and tried playing them the song. After the first few times it didn't work, I decided to take a break and took a look around and I found this strange rock." Link held it up and showed it to Navi.
"That is not a rock," stated Navi hostility growing in her voice. "That's an egg! They got mad at you stealing one of their eggs!"
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't know it was an egg. Uh, what's an egg?"
"Certain animals lay eggs to reproduce," she explained. "And those animals especially don't want to see anyone else touching their eggs."
"Well, I can't return it while they are in such a frenzy," commented Link, watching them continue to attempt to break into the barn. "How long until they calm down?"
"Generally about an hour once they lose sight of the person they are after," she answered. "That means we're stuck in here until they calm down."
"A little setback," sighed Link sitting down in a pile of hay. "But I can still try to figure out how to make this song work." Taking out his ocarina, Link began to play the song again.
"Are you still messing around with that?" snapped Navi. "We didn't come here for you to learn how to ride horses or to learn to play a song. We came to find the princess or have you already forgotten?"
"I remember," answered Link putting down the ocarina.
"Then why are we here?" cried Navi. "We had a chance to go there earlier, but you passed up on it to stay here and do what you wanted to do. This was the Great Deku Tree's final request. Didn't you care about him at all?"
"I cared about him as much as anyone could," said Link. "And I know how important it is, but..."
"But what?" asked Navi. "Tell me!"
"I'm afraid," he admitted curling up on the hay and hiding his face. "We already had to face off against Queen Gohma and that was terrifying. Even after finding this princess I'm going to have to fight a lot more monsters just as terrible. I'm just not strong enough to do this. I thought that maybe, if I learned how to do more things I would be able to become stronger, but I was really just procrastinating."
"Maybe a little," said Navi. "But I shouldn't have been so impatient with you either. You're still a child after all and the dangers you will be facing are more than anyone should have to endure on their own."
"But I'm not alone," replied Link picking his head up and managing a smile. "I have you."
"I'm with you till the end," nodded Navi.
"Thanks," said Link. "We will go straight to Hyrule Castle first thing tomorrow."
"Yeah," agreed Navi. "It's already getting dark and I can already sense dark energy appearing all over Hyrule Field. Leaving now would be far too dangerous... Oh, no!"
"What's wrong?" asked Link watching Navi flutter around sporadically.
"That girl, Malon," cried Navi. "She left the ranch just a short while ago!"
"Why'd she do that?" questioned Link.
"I don't know," she replied. "I only saw her ride jump the gate with a horse and ride off. I didn't even consider the danger earlier, but the evil energy is getting stronger and stronger every minute. Once the sun completely sets things are going to get really bad out there."
"Then we have to go after Malon," stated Link getting to his feet.
"How are we going to do that?" asked Navi. "The Cuckcoos are still around the barn doors and that grumpy guy locked the gate. How do you intend to get out of here?"
"I'll ride on a horse," explained Link. "You said Malon jumped the gate on a horse. I'll just do the same thing."
"But you barely know about horses," countered Navi. "You haven't even ridden properly on a horse before."
"No time to worry about that," he said walking towards the horses, but as he reached for their reins they quickly backed away. "What's wrong with them?"
"I think they're spooked," she told him. "Either from the Cuckcoos or maybe they sense the dark energy outside. If they are this frightened they won't leave the stables let along let you ride them out into Hyrule Field."
"Then I have to convince them," replied Link taking out his ocarina and began to play it again. "Please, help me. I need your help to save Malon. She's my friend and your friend too. If we don't do anything she'll get killed!" Link played the song with all his heart. His hands shook as he played, unable to keep him mind off of Malon. Looking at the horses, Link waited for a reaction, but none of them even took a single step forward. "...please... help me."
The barn doors burst open with a thunder of hoof stomps as a single, young horse forced her way in. She gave a loud neigh as she flew into the barn and the Cuckcoos clucked and squawked as they were scattered.
"E-Epona!" stuttered Link in disbelief as the horse galloped over to him and stopped in front of him gazing into his eyes. "Why did you come?"
"Before she ran wild to get away from you, but now she broke down the doors just to come to you," observed Navi. "Was that the power of that song?"
"I don't think it was the song," Link commented brushing Epona's mane. "I think maybe it allows animals to understand the feelings of the one playing the song. Before when I played it all I was thinking about was wanting to ride Epona and she didn't want me to so she kept on ignoring me. But when I played it this time, the only thought on my mind was to save Malon. Epona must feel the same way and that's why she came."
"But will she let you ride her now?" asked Navi.
"Only one way to know for sure," answered Link walking to her side. "I better proceed carefully." Looking at Epona again, Link realized that unlike the other horses she was not wearing a saddle or reins. "I better see if there are those horse riding things are somewhere in here. Can I ride a horse without them?" Link began turned to look around, but all he saw was the angry flock of Cuckcoos as they were once more organized and appeared even more antagonized than before. Crowing loudly, they swarmed at Link and Epona.
"Link!" cried Navi seeing them get buried under a huge mass of white feathers.
"Go! Go! GO!" screamed Link hanging onto Epona bareback as she ran out of the barn scattering Cuckcoos and feathers behind them.
"Wait for me!" screamed Navi flying at full speed to catch up to Link and Epona and gaining safe passage beneath Link's cap.
The Cuckcoos didn't give up either, chasing after the horse and her rider. Epona ran around the pen that was in the center of the farm and towards Malon's house and the front gate. Link held on tight, the ride smoother than his previous one, but not by much. "This isn't so bad," mumbled Link barely able to find the chance to speak. "I can hold on if she keeps running like this."
"But there's still the gate," Navi pointed out. "You're going to have to jump it!"
"Jump it!?!" cried Link.
"Please, come back," whimpered Ingo banging his head on the gate. "Malon, come back." His ears then caught the sounds of something stampeding towards him. "What in the blazes is going on now?" Turning around, he watched as Link riding on Epona with a mob of Cuckcoos in hot pursuit. "Waaahhh!!!" Epona jumped, leaping over Ingo and the gate. Link held on tight around Epona's neck, his body feeling weightless momentarily at the apex of the jump before they descended back to the ground and galloped off without the slightest hesitation.
"Are you nuts kid!" snapped Ingo shaking his fists and stomping the ground. "You almost killed me! And was that Epona? Where do you think you're taking her?" He continued to yell and shout, but was quickly muffled as the flock of Cuckcoos trampled on top of him and got stopped by the gate. "Oh, the pain. I'll get back at you for this... some day..."
