"Link! Link! Go Link!"
The cheers coming from his friends encouraged the Hero of Time to do his best, however, his mount had other ideas. The reddish brown pelted horse with the white mane tossed her head about and almost swerved out of the racing tracks. Link barely was able to hold onto his reigns.
"Ho there, girl," he shouted. "You wanna throw me off? I need you to win this race, so don't disappoint me, okay?"
But Epona never liked to be ridden by strangers. First, that stubborn human Ingo tried treating her like she was nothing but filth, and then he decided she should be the new mount of that creep Ganondorf?
No way! She once saw that human and liked him even less than Ingo.
And now she was being used as some common racing horse? Oh no, not if she had anything to say about it."
Link sighed. "All right, I guess I need to jog your memory, old pal?"
Epona nickered in confusion. What was that pointy-eared biped talking about?
She didn't see how Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time and started playing a soft tune, she instantly recognized.
The wild mare's ears straightened up. That melody... could it be?
Meanwhile, Ingo was already far ahead. He looked behind and laughed when he saw Link. "What's that guy doing, playing an instrument in the middle of the race? Is he giving up already or what?"
All of a sudden, the wild beast known under the name of Epona gave off a sharp whinny and reared up on her two hind legs.
'That's it!' Ingo thought gleefully. 'Now she's gonna throw him off...'
But she didn't. Instead, she fell back on all fours and started running, her rider lowering his upper body as she increased speed. And this time, it looked just like she was being totally obedient towards the green-clothed stranger.
"What the heck?" Ingo shouted when Epona and Link approached him. He cursed silently and spurred his steed, but to no avail.
Just a few seconds before the two horses ran across the finishing line, Epona zoomed past the stallion and its rider, carrying Link to victory!
Malon, Ukyo and the two fairies cheered in excitement, while Taro was giving Link a satisfied smirk. If the fairy boy was able to tame THAT wild beast, he certainly earned Taro's respect.
Taro and Ingo had tried many times to tame the indomitable Epona, but only the soothing voice and gentle melody of Malon was able to soothe her. And now, by just that melody that Malon had taught to Link, back when they both had been kids, awakened her memories of the young boy that was clothed in green, just like her current rider. And when she recognized her old friend, she gave everything to make him the winner of the race.
Ingo jumped off his horse. "How could you do this?" he screamed. "How could you tame her like that? I wanted to make her the mount of the great Ganondorf, but never managed to make her obey. And you... you just made her listen to you, just by playing some silly old instrument? No way!"
Link smirked as he and Epona came closer. "Well, looks like you lost. So you have to keep your promise: Let Malon go!"
"That wasn't a fair win," Ingo proclaimed. "Had I known that the damned horse would listen to such a stupid song, I would have never let you ride on her."
Taro heard enough. "You let her go now, Ingo!" he grumbled as he stepped up to the lanky man. "Ganondorf or not, you are by yourself now, and nothing would stop me from breaking your spine."
Ingo gulped nervously while looking up at the towering muscleman. "You... you can't make me," he stammered. "Ganondorf will never lift the curse from you if you do that."
"Try me," Taro sneered.
Ingo was frantically searching for a way out of this, but deep inside, he knew that he had lost this one.
"Fine..." he sighed and lowered his head. "Go on and take her... she can go."
Link nodded at Taro, and Taro was just going to say something, when he felt something upon his shoulder.
He frowned and lifted his hand to the spot... and froze when he felt a wet spot. He then looked upwards... and gasped.
While everyone had been concentrating on the race between Link and Ingo, no one had paid attention to the weather. And so, no one had noticed the dark clouds that had appeared in the sky.
And then, Taro felt another raindrop coming down on his shirt. And then another one.
"Oh no..." he muttered. "Guys, take Malon and get out of here, quickly!"
"But what...?" Malon asked in confusion.
"Go, now!" Taro shouted. "In a few seconds I won't be myself anymore and..."
He groaned. By now, it really started pouring, and Link and Ukyo realized: It was too late to run.
Taro sank down to his knees and hid his face within his hands. And then, the rain started to trigger his transformation...
A pair of wings sprouted from his backside. His face lengthened into the snout of a bull. A thin and slick eel tail emerged from his buttocks. His feet turned into cloven hooves, and his whole body grew into titanic proportions.
Ingo yelped in fear as he saw the giant Minotaur towering above him. While he knew that Ganondorf had Taros monster form under control, he didn't have that advantage himself. And if Ganondorf didn't give the winged Minotaur a specific order, he would go on a blind rampage.
The beast that was Taro bellowed in fury as lightning crackled down and turned his bodyframe into a dark silhouette.
"Bring Malon to safety!" Link shouted. "I'll try to knock him out somehow."
"You against that monster?" Ukyo screamed. "Are you nuts?"
"Remember Gohma? I beat her and Barinade as well, and they were as big as this guy. Trust me, I can do it."
Ukyo wanted to point out that Link had help in both of the mentioned battles, but she realized that this wasn't the time to argue... and Malon really had to be brought to a safe place.
And besides, this would be the first time he could use the Master Sword in battle... and if was really that powerful, maybe he really had a chance of winning.
Taro let out a deafening moo and stomped down on the ground, where Ingo was lying. The lanky man screamed in terror and rolled away from the massive hoof.
The stomp missed Ingo's torso, but instead, came down on his wrist.
Ingo cried out in pain as his hand was seemingly crushed underneath the colossus' right foot. Link quickly took out his hookshot and aimed for Taro's horns.
The chain wrapped itself around the minotaur's left horn, and Link yanked with all his might. His adult body was certainly stronger than his child body, but it was still no match for the strength of Taro.
"Time to use the present Impa gave us after we left," he grumbled and pulled two heavy items out of his backpack.
And when he slipped into the Iron Boots, their weight magically increased his own weight tremendously. Taro snorted in surprise when the enormous weight pulled him downwards... and made him collapse on the floor.
Link took off the Iron Boots and quickly jumped over to the whimpering form of Ingo. Now he saw: Taro hadn't really crushed his hand. A solid band of iron was around the former farmhand's wrist, giving off a mysterious shimmer. But it also had some cracks in it, as a result of the minotaur's massive stomp. And now the shimmering light began to flicker.
"Wh-what?" Ingo muttered. "What happened? Where... where am I? Oh Nayru help..."
'Huh?' Link wondered. 'What's wrong with him?'
Navi flitted over to the enchanted bracelet and used her clairvoyant fairy abilities.
She gasped. "Link, that bracelet... it's embedded with dark magic. I believe someone put a mind control spell upon it... and I think you know who did it."
Link frowned. "Ganondorf..." he muttered darkly.
A roar coming from Taro made him turn around. He had nearly forgotten about the minotaur.
Taro rose up from the ground again, his eyes blazing with fury. And as the rain continued to pour down on his massive frame, Link awaited his next move with gritted teeth.
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(Posted Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:39)
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