literature

Remember The Paradox. Majora's Mask

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It was cold and the storms were thick and strong on the quiet land. The sky above did not want to quit gusting the land with wind or throwing out snow of the clouds; winter had been tough on Hyrule as it always was; however, they made the most of the season, families coming together to tell stories and play games in front of the roaring fire, forgetting about the penniless and the ones who had nothing for that time of year. A young girl, no older than ten crossed Hyrule Field through the night; the snow was falling hard had made sight difficult; though she shouted for her father as loud as her lungs would let her; her voice would not carry over the dunes of snow and ice covered trees. She was frozen solid and tired with walking through the knee deep snow and soon began to yawn, fighting with her wet clothes to stay warm. She swallowed hard and continued to walk, her hood ripping off her cloak and being blown away to let loose fiery orange hair; the wind blew back in her face; forcing her to turn her back to it and slip on a patch of black ice hidden in the snow, her ankle twisted and sent pain running up her leg. Upon her screams she saw a little figure masked in shadow nearby with tiny green eyes staring at her, patrolling through the cold. She shouted and waved her arms till they spotted her and began to waddle over. It was too dark to see what it was till it came close; a being without skin or blood, just a walking skeleton. The girl shrieked as it grabbed her arm; the strength in the solid bones bruised her skin as the snow began to open up underneath her; the skeleton or more appropriately named; Stalfos began to pull her down into the depths of the underground lands that were the Dead’s Land. Upon this; something grabbed her flailing arm and held onto her wrist tightly; the girl twisted her head to find a boy in a thick fur coat was hanging onto her wrist, trying to pull her back up; he strained as the Stalfos was stronger but she could feel the soil that was trying to eat her ankles begin to loosen; the boy was wearing snow boots and a mask was covering his face to prevent him from snow blindness; though she could see a pair of sea blue eyes glare at the Stalfos. The boy’s hand was slipping on her wrist as he tried to pull back even more but he lost it and rolled backwards into the snow, the girl screamed as the soil was reaching her knees; she saw the boy flip back up and almost dive for the Stalfos, a sword in hand like a large dagger the Stalfos was struck in the centre of the forehead, it gave a roar and fell apart in a small, harmless explosion of green and blue flame before dropping a couple of green rupees which the boy picked up and pocketed; but tutted as one fell out of his wallet pouch.

“T-Thank you.” the girl whispered as the boy helped her dig herself out of the snow and soil

“What are you doing out here? Are you lost?” the boy asked removing the mask from over his eyes to show his full face; said face had its fair share of wounds and scars; it looked older than it was.

“I’ve been to Castle Town; I was trying to get home to Lon Lon Ranch; do you know the way?” the girl asked cupping her hands by the boy’s face; the boy took a step back

“You’ve walked pretty far, if you head further west you’ll end up at Lake Hylia.” the boy shrugged “The weather is not going to get any better tonight, why don’t you stay with me till the morning? Then I could help you back to the ranch.”

“Why are you out here anyway? Don’t you have parents in Castle Town to get back to?” the girl sighed grimacing with the pain in her ankle

“I’m an orphan; I don’t have much but I have enough.” the boy mumbled, his face carrying a smile

The girl sighed and lowered her head “Sorry, I misunderstood, do you live near here?”

“It’s not a far walk, I heard you shouting so I came out.” the boy said helping her stand up, the girl leaned on his shoulders for support.

It was true, he had made himself a little camp a few minutes away in a cave with a wooden wall to keep the wind and snow out; he lifted a sack with the word ‘potatoes’ to let the girl through before pulling the sack down and dropping a few heavy pebbles on it to keep it down. The warmth hit her in the face; in a circle of stones there was a roaring fire with an empty spit hanging off it; there were vegetables peeled and ready to be skewered and an open bottle of milk sat on a rock being warmed by the fire on the floor were two hand-made blankets made out of scraps of fabric and a small pillow filled with cucco feathers. The boy sighed and rubbed his hands together as he helped the girl sit by the fire and wrapped her shoulders up with a spare blanket, the girl hugged her shoulders with it as the boy fed a few more sticks to the fire and poured out some of the warm milk, holding the bottle through the sleeve of his cloak, he offered her a cup

“Thank you.” the girl mumbled taking it in both hands

“It’s not much, but dinner should be ready shortly if you’re hungry.” the boy said with a smile, he took some of the vegetables and added some scraps of meat from a small bag that was hidden behind the rock and stabbed them with the sharp end of the spit and rested them over the fire before dipping into a small haversack at the back of the cave

“What’s that?” the girl hissed as the boy brought out a small cloth bag tied tight with string

“Just some healing herbs; they’ll make your ankle less painful.” the boy replied coming towards her and pulled off her damp boots to show that her left ankle was already bruising and tender to the touch; the boy carefully lifted her foot up and placed his pillow underneath it and placed the bag of cool herbs on the inside of her ankle while gently massaging the outside with his thumbs at first it hurt but as the boy got himself into a rhythm, the pain wore off and the bruising started to shrink and heal up. By the time he was done, the girl was dropping off to sleep as she was so comfortable and relaxed, not to mention warm under the blankets; they soon had a quick meal of roast potatoes and carrots with cucco meat and herbs. After finishing; they slept wearing their thick coats in case the fire went out but the boy seemed to wake up every so often to feed it more sticks to keep it going before falling back into a sleep that could not be easily woken from.

The sun had risen over the carpets of white the next morning, the girl opened her eyes and rubbed them; her ankle had completely healed, the boy was gone and the fire was almost out at that point but there was a plate of breakfast made for her on the rock that served as a bed side table along with some warm milk ready and waiting. She had just finished when the boy came back with armfuls of sticks. She helped him build the fire back up

“Thank you for last night.” the girl spoke blowing on the flames

“Don’t mention it, the company was nice; I’m glad to see you are feeling better.” the boy said smiling

“If you have nowhere to stay then, why not you come to Lon Lon Ranch with me? I’m sure Father wouldn’t mind.” the girl squeaked, the boy shook his head

“No. I’ll be alright.” the boy whispered holding his heart “I’ll guide you to the ranch in a few minutes okay?”

“Okay.” the girl sighed sitting next to him to warm her toes by the fire

“What is your name?” the boy asked watching out of the corner of his eye her shuffle closer to him till her side touched his

“Malon.” the girl spoke taking his hand

“I thought so.” the boy replied “I doubt you would remember who I am though.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, its fine.”

“So, why won’t you come to the ranch with me?”

“I’m looking for a dear friend of mine, I’m travelling to the Lost Woods today now that the weather has cleared up a little, if all goes well, I’ll see you when I get back.”



It had been some time, seven years in fact since she had seen the boy, he would be almost a man now; she would hardly be able to recognize him if he was standing in front of her.
She had not forgotten his kindness that night; she had hoped to pay him back for it as did her father when he walked her home only to disappear without a trace. Over the years she would pay a visit to the little cave near Lake Hylia to see the tattered remains of an entrance covered in grime and dirt and the cinders of the old fire. She did not even know the boy’s name to call him upon, let alone offer him a meal and bed for the night; it showed her that the poorest were often the kindest, not showing pity on another’s situation but compassion to help them through it.

Even so, winter was well in season and the wind was strong and unforgiving on a person; Malon remained in the house when she could; doing her chores most days, including today, preparing a feast for her and her father; Ingo was away with his family and would not be back till the beginning of spring, she began to peel some vegetables over the sink, seven years today, all must not have gone well; yes he knew how to survive, quite well in fact for someone of his age, but what if he needed help and no one was there to offer it. Malon gritted her teeth and took a chunk out of a potato, causing it to fly over her shoulder; it niggled in her mind for a while during the preparation of the vegetables till nightfall came, one of the calmer nights she had witnessed with the sky painted black and the full moon shining on the crystalline white snow. It was picturesque but the thought of the boy remained in her mind as it always did from every waking hour, it annoyed her and worried her; the boy seemed so confident yet afraid of where he was going, what was it again?

The Lost Woods.

The place where the Stalfos were born.

She began to tire as thoughts floated around her head and went upstairs to bed. Upon lying on the sheets she began to drift off into an uneasy sleep; dreaming about rolling hills of emerald grass and the pink endless skies that touched them in the distance but it soon evolved into a nightmare, the grass being drenched in crimson and the sky being lit up with blazing fire that made the clouds turn to ashes at the ticking of a clock. Malon woke with a start, her hair falling past her shoulders with fear as she tried to control her breathing. Something was not right. She threw off the bed sheets and almost ran to the window to look out over the horizon; all seemed normal. The crisp cool air brushed against her cheeks as she brought her head back inside. Sometimes she hated this season; it made her think of the boy too much; something seemed familiar with his demeanour though she had never met him before

The sea blue eyes.

It was strange the way he looked at her, he said he had known her; how if they had never met?

The knowledge of the land.

A boy his age knew much about surviving, skill that rivalled even the best adult travellers

The words he used.

She had never heard a child with such a strange accent, it was a mixture of many races, from the clear ring of the Hylians to the choppy utterances of Deku; even his actions, the gentle hand movements that altered direction like the Zora to the smile and emotions that the Gorons displayed. Maybe he had been a part of all their tribes; perhaps he knew everyone without meeting them in a way.

The next morning, Malon collected some eggs from the cucco coop and yawned, her sleep had been shallow; her father was stuffing the main dish as she thought, it seemed too big for two. She sat down for a moment and petted a cucco that passed by. Something crashed into the closed door of the main barn causing the frame to shake and every cucco in the room to lay an extra egg in fright followed by a horses’ whinny. Malon opened the door slowly to find a chestnut coloured horse slam its body into the house. Malon blinked hard
“Epona! We thought you had gone missing years ago!” she squealed waving her arms at the wild beast. The mare calmed down slightly stamping her feet into the snow and huffing out warm air in almost disgust. Malon stroked her nose and moved her arm along to the empty saddle that was atop her, there was blood on it and it was still wet… Epona turned her head to look at her investigate the crimson on her hands. She held her head and dropped to her knees

The boy…that boy…this was his blood…seven years…swords…time…

A double life…


It made no sense to her but at the same time it made perfect sense; if the boy in question had been an adult beforehand, then he would know how to take care of himself, he would have many accents in his voice and have a protective personality if he had already endangered others before. Without another thought she vaulted onto Epona’s back and flicked the reigns hard so that she reared giving them a short speed boost into Hyrule Field. Malon trusted Epona enough to take her straight to the boy-man, she had questions that were on her mind but they all faded away when she saw him. He was lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood in the snow from a deep head wound at the side of his face under the rim of his hat. Malon crouched at his side and held his head in her hands, he was still warm and the blood was still running; it looked like he had been clawed or something as there were three deep wounds across his face that were still open

“It is you.” she whispered
The boy-man lifted his head and smiled “How do you recognise me now, but not then?”

“I don’t know.” Malon sighed pulling on his arm to get him out of the snow.

“Don’t.” he quickly snapped, the movement causing him pain. “I only managed to stun the Wolfos that attacked me. It'll be back.”

She did not listen to his protest, knowing the lines he was heading down and gave another tug on his arm while whistling for Epona, the chestnut mare to come help her.

The ride was rough, the boy-man could hardly lift his head and the saddle was drenched in a lake of red that soaked into the mare’s fur, Malon’s clothes and of course the boy-man’s garb. Regardless, she got him to the ranch before a heavy snow storm hit, the flakes landing on the window as if they wanted to peer in to the woman half dragging the blood stained boy-man into the front room. He complained, his voice hardly making a sound in her strained ears but he chattered, he was clearly alright if that was the case, but that head wound worried her. She lifted his cap and put a damp cloth to his head, the boy-man seethed and grimaced as the water bit at his broken skin, his fingers clawed around the pillows and sofa lining; despite Malon’s lightest touches, the boy-man continued to shuffle and quietly yelp in his position. She paid it no heed given how upset he seemed to be with showing pain.

“You weren’t as difficult when we met last.” she muttered not looking up from cleaning the wounds

The boy-man didn’t answer, merely screwed his eyes shut upon seeing a flash of sliver in Malon’s hand and continuing to writhe in his seat when it pierced his skin.

“Did you find your friend?” Malon asked, continuing her conversation while stitching up his wound

“No.” he quickly replied almost jumping from the seat when she pulled the thread tight

“That’s disappointing. You looked all this time?” she continued, forcing her weight on him to keep him down on the sofa much to his annoyance “Stop fidgeting, you’ve had worse I imagine.”

The boy-man looked hurt “Yes, but I’ve stitched myself up, you’re too slow.”
Malon giggled “Nearly finished.” with that, she cut the thread and let him sit up, his fingers inspecting the wound

“Thank you.” he breathed, glancing through the window at the sunset. Time had gone faster than he had expected

“I never learned your name.” Malon spoke looking over her shoulder

The boy-man nearly jumped out of his seat “I told you it once before.”

“Tell me again.” Malon said with a sneaky smile one that the boy-man gave a quizzical look too.

“Link.” he mumbled “It’s…Link.”
This has been wrote for like 2 years you know. Yeah 2013. I've finished it, I don't really know why I put this down in the first place but it's complete now. I think it was meant to be a winter piece, but I dropped it in favour of 'A Winter Secret' What use is it being lonely and forgotten in my documents?
Anyway, the little story isn't much, but it shows how people change over time, Malon doesn't really know what Link is talking about, she can barely remember him from the OOT timeline, but he can, but there seems to be almost a shadow of the OOT timeline on the MM side, she clearly remembers something, but doesn't know what it means. So now it's just up to the pair of them to fill in the blanks together.

If you'd like to read 'A Winter Secret' You can find it here. A Winter Secret Part 1

Hey, listen! Did you like this short story? Do you have time for another? Perhaps a poem? Please Arbiters Grounds. Twilight Princess. Or if you have a Zelda poetry or short story request, I would love for you to shout on me. I'll be willing to give it a try. Or if you don't want more fandom, you can read this: To Face Another Day its a poem. Not related to games.
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kittykruger's avatar
This was a really fun read! However, I can tell that you wrote this a while ago because your writing has improved much in comparison to this. Still, though, awesome job!