Taro grimaced as he stared at the four-legged devil, the bane of his existence... Even now, as it was rearing up on its hind legs, it seemed to laugh at him, now that he was lying in the dirt...
"Damned horse..." the rough fighter grumbled and threw a rock at the young foal.
Epona just snickered in amusement as she effortlessly dodged the thrown object. This rude human should just try and get her... she would never let herself tame by any human. She was a free spirit and would let no human get near her...
Well, except maybe for Malon. That girl could sing such beautiful songs... it made the young foal want to jump with joy.
Taro stood up from the ground. "Some day I'm gonna get you, just you wait!" he yelled and shook his fist. Epona just showed him her backside.
Grumbling, Taro walked back to the barn to take care of the other horses.
Ingo, the other farmhand in Talon's employment, leaned against the wooden fence of the horse pasture and chuckled.
"Tried taming the wild beast again, eh?" the skinny, mustached man asked.
"Shut up, Ingo..." Taro growled. "I want to see you doing better..."
That made Ingo angry. If there was something he didn't like, it was someone else pointing out that he wasn't able to do a job perfectly.
"One day, I'm gonna be the sole owner of this farm, and when this time has come, I'm gonna kick you and lazy ol' Talon out of here... Pantyhose!"
Taro grabbed the lanky man at his suspenders. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" he snapped with fury.
Ingo knew this young man could wipe the floor with him, but he didn't show any fear, as he knew Taro's weakness. He simply smiled. "Go ahead, hit me... that won't stop me telling sweet little Malon about your little secret..."
Taro's face came several inches closer to the farmhand's visage, but Ingo didn't even flinch.
Finally, he threw the thinner man to the ground. "Get lost before I change my mind..." he growled and headed into the barn.
Ingo waited until Taro was out of sight, then he let out a sigh of relief. He didn't want to show it to anyone, but sometimes, even he was afraid that Taro might risk his little secret and 'polish Ingo's face', like he put it.
Epona had watched the banter between the two humans. Disgustedly, she threw Ingo an angry glare. While she believed Taro to be an amusing little fella, she downright HATED Ingo... This man didn't treat any of the animals with the respect they deserve... and she could feel that his dislike was not only aimed at the animals and Taro, but also at Malon and her father. The fear that he would get kicked out of the ranch was the only thing that kept him from venting his wrath on them.
Then, the little filly heard the creaking of the main building's door. Malon was coming outside. When she entered the horse pasture, Epona greeted her with an excited whinny.
"Hello there," Malon smiled at her friend. "Lively as always, Epona? I'm glad to see it."
Epona rubbed her snout against Malons face. The girl giggled. Then, the foal came close to her little belt pouch and sniffed.
"Oh, what was that? You said you're hungry, did you?" Epona whinnied and nodded. Malon giggled and took several sugar lumps out of her pouch, which she fed to the energetic little horse.
Suddenly, she heard voices:
"Are you SURE this is the way to Death Mountain?" a girl's voice asked. "Because it doesn't look like it..."
"I guess we shouldn't have tried following Ryoga..." another girl sighed. "He's a nice guy, but I know his sense of direction is absolutely horrible..."
"I... could've sworn this was the way to Kakariko..." a low, grumbling voice said. "I only followed the sounds of the Cuccos..."
"Ryoga... Kakariko isn't the only place with Cuccos, you know?" a second boy replied.
"He could have easily sent us to the Zora River," another girl said, her voice accompanied by a weird jingle.
Epona whinnied and ran away from the strange group that was approaching them. Malon looked at the assembled kids in confusion... until her gaze fell onto the two green-clothed ones.
"Hey, I met you in town, right?" she said with a smile. "Hey there, fairy-boy, fairy-girl... who are your friends?"
"Don't call me fairy-girl..." Ukyo said with a frown.
Link chuckled. "Hello, Malon."
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(Posted Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:03)
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