Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess ❯ The Slingshot and the Monkey ( Chapter 2 )

A.N.- None of these characters belong to me, they are the property of Nintento. Noticed a few spelling errors so I figued I better go through and fix that asap. Also if something seems weird with the page it could be because my vista program doesn’t like this site or something stupid like that. At any rate enjoy.

“ Hey, wake up, Link! It’s morning already!” Talo shouted up to Link’s open window.
Hearing him Link climbed down from the topmost level of his house and went down to meet the other village children; Talo, Malo, Beth, and Colin.
“ Oh, Link! Didja hear?” Talo said, as soon as he approached, “ They’re selling a slingshot at the store right now! A SLINGSHOT!”
“ Really?” Link said, slightly interested.
“ I wonder how powerful it is…” Malo said, “ I…I need…I must try it…”
“ Talo,” Beth said, huffily, “ if you and Malo want so badly, just buy it at my parents’ shop!”
“ Do you see any Rupees in my hand?” Talo said angrily, “ I can’t afford that thing! C’mon, Beth, can’t you just loan it to us for a while?”
“ You know I’d get in trouble for that! I you wo want it, save up your allowances or something.”
“ But…” Malo said, speaking up again, “ our allowances are terrible… Aww, I wish I was born into a family with a slingshot instead of one with a waterwheel…”
Allthough he really couldn’t care less whether or not he had a slingshot Link still hated to see the kids looking dissapointed like that. So, smiling to himself as he remembered where he had stashed his rupees for emergencies, Link decided that he would buy the slingshot for the kids.
Just as he was about to head into the village however he noticed Colin standing off by himself next to Epona.
“ Good morning Colin,” he said, walking up to stand beside the boy.
“ Hi, Link…” Colin said, shyly, “ You have the day off work today, right?”
“ That’s right.”
“ So…I finished the fishing rod I was making,” he said, staring at the ground and draggin his foot around in the dirt, “ Lilnk, I figured I’d give it to you first thing in the morning, but…My dad said, ‘You just wait until Link comes to get it!’ So I didn’t bring it to you…”
“ That’s all right Colin,” Link said, smiling warmly at him, “ Your mom’s still at home today isn’t she?”
“ Yes…”
“ Then I’ll get it from her. There’s something I need to do anyway.”
“ OK, I’ll come with you then.”
“ That’s OK. I need someone to stay here with Epona so she doesn’t feel lonely.”
“ Oh…I’ll just wait here then, I guess.”
Nodding to himelf as Colin went back to stroking and talking to Epona Link headed into the village to collect those rupees that he had hidden.

As soon as he entered the village Link spotted Colin’s mother Uli standing beside the creek lost in thought. Thinking that it would be a good idea to take care of the fishing rod while the thought was still fresh in his head Link headed over to talk to her.
“ Hello Uli,” he said, “ Is something the matter?”
“ Oh, um, good morning to you,” Uli said, still staring off in thought, “ If you are looking for my husband, he took his sword and left early this morning.”
“ Actually I…”
“ But I must ask Link,” she continued having not heard what it was that he said, “…You have not seen a cradle come floating by here, have you?”
“ A cradle…?”
“ It is a baby’s cradle made of finely woven tree bark…”
“ No I haven’t seen one, but I’ll be sure to bring it to you if I do.”
“ Oh, such a misfortune…” Uli said, still not paying him any mind, “ How far could it have drifted, I wonder…”
Seeing that there would be no way to get the fishing rod from her while she was so distracted Link decided that it would be prudent to help her out and search for the cradle. Noticing that Mayor Bo was standing just outisde of his house he thought he’d ask him first if he’d seen Uli’s baby cradle.
“ Mayor Bo…” he said, waving and smiling in greeting.
“ Mornin’, Link,” he said, waving back, “ Sounds like Fado’s handlin’ things at the ranch on his own today.”
“ Yeah, he’s said that he’d be OK on his own.”
Mayor Bo shook his head.
“ When he’s up there alone I always figure some calamity or other’s gonna happen…”
Just then they heard Fado shout down from the ranch at them.
“ HEY!! A GOAT GOT LOOSE!! IT’S HEADIN’ SOMEBODY STOP IT!!”
Link saw the goat charging down the slope and planted himself firmly in it’s path. He moved from side to side as the goat veered from one way to the other. Then just as it was about to run him down he grabbed it by the horns and forced it off to the left so that it landed on it’s side.
The goat stood up after a second and, shaking itself dizzily, headed back up to the ranch. Link patted the creature gently on it’s rump to help send it on it’s way drawing a contented bleat from it.
“ Aw…Fado did it again…” Bo said, shaking his head, “ These goats have been awful skittish lately…You always gotta be on your toes.”
Link nodded and shook his hands out a little since they still stung a bit from the impact of the charging goat.
“ Sorry ‘bout that, Link. But thanks to you, that goat didn’t get away!”
“ Not a problem Mayor,” Link said, “ But, say, you haven’t seen a baby cradle have you? Uli’s looking for one.”
“ A baby cradle?” he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, “ No, I haven’t. Maybe you should check around with everyone else. Someone’s ‘bound to have seen it.”
“ All right, thanks anyways.”
Sighing to himself at the list of things that seemed to keep coming up for him to do Link made his way to Sera’s shop check on the price of the slingshot before he went ahead and tried to buy it. On the way he encountered Sera’s husband and Beth’s father, Hanch, standing just outside the entrance to his house.
“ Well, hey, ‘morning, Link, “ he said as Link approached, “ Got a day off from work today, m’boy?”
“ That’s right sir,” Link said, nodding, “ Fado’s handling things today. Though he already let one of the goats get loose.”
“ Yeah? Not me. The wife’s been hassling me…Today’s the day to restock our store.”
“ I see…”
“ Look!” Hanch said, pointing up towards the tree behind his house, “ See that? Up in that tree…”
“ What? The bees’ nest?”
“ Yeah, some Ordon bees built themselves a fine nest up there and I was thinking about knocking it down…”
“ Good luck with reaching it.”
“ Yeah, well…Our cat hasn’t come home since yesterday, so the wife’s in a bad mood. At the very least, I need to bring something home to her.”
“ Well maybe I can cheer her up a little,” Link said, heading towards the shop right in front of the house.
“ Sure,sure…” Hanch said, going back to staring at the bees’ nest.
Link walked into the shop smiling; hoping to lighted the mood as soon as possible. Sera wasn’t paing him any mind however.
“ Good morning Sera,” he said brightly.
“ Ohhh…Awww…Oh my…It’s young Link…Welcome, m’dear.”
Link didn’t know what to make of this. It looked like it was shaping up to every woman in the village being depressed about something or other today.
“ Um, Sera? Would you mind telling me how much that slingshot costs?’
“ You…You didn’t happen to see my little cat out there, did you?” she said, completely ignoring him, “ He ate the fish we were going to have for supper last night, and I gave him a good scolding…but then he went out and hasn’t returned….I’m so fraught with worry for him….I’ve exhasted myself…”
“ Don’t worry ma’am,” Link said, sighing inwardly to himself, “ I’ll keep and eye out for him.”
Sera didn’t seem to hear him though. Link ended up leaving the shop without finding out the price of the slingshot. There really wasn’t anything he could do about it though other than gather the rupees he had hidden away and hope that it would be enough.
Directly after leaving Sera’s shop Jaggle called to him.
“ Yo! Link! Yo! Up here! I wanna talk to you!”
“ Hey, there, Jaggle,” Link called up, noticing where Jaggle stood.
“ Hey, there you go! Over here! Yeah! Your voice carries well, as usual! So listen, why, don’t you climb up those vines there Link?”
Link could see no real reason for this request other than maybe Jaggle was tired of yelling down at him. But he took a fistfull of the vines in each hand and climbed his way up to where Jaggle stood.
“ Yo! There you are! Check this out…You know Sera, at the general store?”
“ Yeah?”
“ Well, isn’t that her cat over there?”
Link followed Jaggle’s line of sight to behind his house and did indeed spot Sera’s cat lying on its stomach staring at the water.
“ He’s just been sitting there next to my house, having a staring contest with the creek,” he said, snickering to himself, “ You don’t suppose he’s thinkg he’s gonna cathc a fish, do you? Hahaha! A cat can’t cathc no fish!”
Link smiled to himself, but didn’t really want to point it out that it was only Sera’s cat that couldn’t catch anything on it’s own.
“ Anyway,” Jaggle said, after reigning in his giggles, “ That’s not what I was meaning to tell you about. I want you to take a look at something….”
“ Really? What?”
“ See that grass growing there on the edge of that rock? Haven’t I sen you whistling on that stuff?”
“ Yeah, that right there is hawk grass,” Link said, showing Jaggle how the topmost part of the grass grew out into the rough shape of a hawk, “ If you play it right you can call down a hawk with it.”
“ No foolin’? Well, I figured it was pretty rare to see it growing in a place like that, so I thought I’d let you know.”
Link nodded, but really didn’t hear the tail end of what it was that Jaggle had said. Something farther out in the river had caught his eye. To get a better veiw he hopped out the farther-most rock.
Way out in the middle of the river there was a monkey jumping up and down on a rock. And it was holding Uli’s baby cradle above his head.
But it was too far away for him to reach it on his own. He glanced down at his feet and was pleasantly surprised to see some hawk grass growing there. Link picked a piece, whistled the song to summon down a hawk, waited for the hawk to land on his outstretched arm. He didn’t have to wait long for a moment later the hawk landed in a small puff of wind.
“ I need that cradle,” Link told it, “ Can you get it for me?”
The hawk screeched once in reply and took off. Gracefully it swooped down on the monkey, snatched the cradle out of it’s hands and dropped it safely in Link’s.
“ Thank you,” Link called after the hawk as it returned to the skies.
Tucking the cradle under his arm Link hopped back acrosse the rocks and trotted over to where Uli still stood.
“ Oh! Link!” she exclaimed, “ That cradle! Did you go to the trouble of finding it for me?”
“ It was no trouble Uli.”
“ My thanks to you,” she said, smiling sweetly, “ OH, that reminds me! There is something I am supposed to give to you…Do you think you could carry that cradle and come with me back to my house?”
“ Sure,” Link said, following Uli up the path to her house.
Once there Uli took the cradle into her house and came back out with the fishing rod for Link.
“ My thanks to you, Link,” she said, again, “ Yes, yes…I had nearly forgotton…I am supposed to give you this…All right…Here you go!” Link gratefully accepted the fishing rod from her and ran his fingers up and down his length. “ It is a little…unpolished. My son, colin, made this under the instruction of his father. You can use it if you like.”
“ Thank you Uli,” Link said, “ And I’ll be sure to thank Colin too.”
Uli smiled and waved at him as he walked away.
Holding the fishing rod in his hands Link headed towards where Sera’s cat was likely still staring at the water. Now that he had a means to catch fish maybe he could convince the cat to follow him back to the shop.
The cat shied away from him as he approached, but after it saw that Link could catch fish for it it stayed close by him and waited for the next fish to bite. When it did it waited for Link to take the fish off the hook then it snatched it out of his hand and raced home to Sera.
Link stood by the side of the river, completely dumbfounded for a moment before he stood up. Now that everything in the village had been set right it was time to attend to those hidden rupees.
He went through every patch of grass and picked up the few that he had hidden here and there, knocked into the few select trees to dislodge a few more, and climbed to the top of Mayor Bo’s house to collect the ten-piece he had hidden up there.
While on the roof he remembered that he had stashed a ten and a five piece in the tree behing Hanch and Sera’s house. The same tree that the bees had made their nest in. And the only way to get to those rupees was to climb the tree. Picking a piece of the hawk grass that grew up there for some reason he called down the hawk once again and told it to knock down the nest.
Once it had he carefully climbed down from the mayor’s house and made his way back to where Hanch still stood.
“ Link…” he said, “ I saw all that. Calling down a hawk…Why didn’t I think of that? And here I was trying to knock that down myself, but you beat me to it, m’boy!”
“ I’m sure you would’ve thought of something sooner or later,” Link said, starting to make his way up the tree where the rupees were hidden. After collecting them he went to check up on Sera to see if she was in a better mood now that her cat was back home.
As soon as he entered the store Sera greeted him with much more enthusiasam than she had been able to muster before.
“ Oh, my, Link! You simply MUST hear this! Just take a look! My litle kitty Link came back! And he brought a fish back with him. He was worried about me being angry!”
Link smiled, but didn’t tell her that the cat only came back because it had finaly gotten the fish that it wanted to eat.
“ Ohhhh, just look…Isn’t he so cute, the way he laps up that milk? Say, m’dear, why don’t you have some, too!” she said, holding out the half-empty bottle to him, “ I’m in a good mood, so it’s on the house today!”
“ Thank’s Sera,” he said, “ Um, actually I wanted to ask you how much that slingshot was.”
“ This old thing?” she said, pulling it off the shelf, “ It’s 30 rupees dear. Why do you ask?”
Link quickly counted up the ruppees he had and was happy to find that he had enough to make the purchase.
“ I’d like to buy it.”
Sera shook her head as she took his money and handed him the slingshot and pellets in exchange.
“ What are you doing buying a slingshot you naughty thing? You’re too old for toys! Well, will you at least let the kids play with it?”
“ I’ll be certain to,” Link said, tucking the slingshot into his belt cord and turning to leave.
“ Oh, I should tell you, if you happen to run out of pellets, you can also use pumkin seeds.”
“ Pumpkin seeds….Right I’ll be sure to remember that.”
“ Take care m’dear.”
“ You too.”

Link was surprised to find Rusl at his house waiting for him as he headed back.
“ Ah, just in time, Link!” Rusl said, waving hello, “ I just deliverred something to your room!”
“ Thanks,” Link said, “ I’ll go get it here in just a minute.”
“ Sure, sure. Oh, I see you got the fishing rod, Colin will be pleased. And it wrlks better than you would think, right?”
“ It sure does,” Link said, nodding and smiling enthusiastically, “ I’ve already caught two fish with it.”
“ Excellent. Well, have a good one…”
“ Thanks, you too,” Link said, nodding goodbye.
Before seeing what it was that Rusl had dropped off for him Link went over to let Colin know that he had gotten the fishing rod.
“ Oh, you got it…” Colin siad, noticing the rod in Link’s hand, “ I hope you like it…”
“ It’s great Colin,” Link said, “ I really like it.”
This drew a smile from Colin who turned and went back to petting Epona so Link couldn’t see how embarrassed he really was.
Taking the opportunity to test the power of the slingshot Link took aim at and killed the abnormally large spider that had taken up residence on the ladder to his house. He looked at it curously as it lay twitching on the ground. Never in his life had he ever seen a spider grow to the size of his head. And for a moment he thought that maybe he should take it to Rusl to see if he’d seen anything like it before. But before he could even pick it up the spider exploded and dissapeared into a cloud of black smoke.
Link glanced at Talo, Malo, Beth, and Colin to see if they had noticed the strange occurance. But they hadn’t. In fact they seemed completely oblivious to all the weird things that had been happening around their little village lately.
Shrugging it off as just another strange thing in the long line of strange things that had been happenning lately Link went up to see what it was that Rusl had left for him. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Rusl had returned his woden sword, newly polished and ready for use.
Back outside the kids finally noticed what it was that Link had tucked into the back of his belt cord.
“ Link has a slingshot!” Talo exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement, “ WOAH!”
“ Wow,” Beth said, squirming around in just as much excitement as Talo, “ You had enough money to but it, Link?”
Link nodded and watched curiously as Talo, Malo, and Beth hurridly set up some targets for him to practice on. He smiled at them as they did. They were really excited about this whole thing.
“ Preperations comlete…” Malo said, when everything was set up at last.
“ OK, wow, this is great!” Talo said, hopping from one foot to the other, “ Let’s see how powerful that slingshot is! Hit the targets AND those scarecrows!”
“ I can’t belive you tow brats are so obsessed about this,” Beth said, trying to act like she was older than she actually was, “ It just shows what little boys you both still are.” She turned to look at Link with a dreamy look in her eyes. “ These two idiots will never shut up about it, so I guess you’ll just have to show them, Link.”
“ All right, then,” Link said, placing a pellet in the slingshot, “ Here goes nothing.”
Link took aim at the closest scarcrow and shattered the bucket that lay over its pumpkin head.
“ That’s amazing, Link!” Beth and Talo siad together.
Link had to admit to himself that the slingshot was an impressive little weapon. He didn’t think that it would end up being quite that powerful. Taking a few more pellets out of their pouch he took aim at each of the other targets in turn and shattered them all in rapid succession until there was nothing left. And while he was still surprised at the power and accuracy in the slingshot he was even more surprised at how easily using it came to him.
“ Whoa! Amazing Link!” all three of them said together.
“ Hyahh! Thanks, Link!” Beth said, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
“ Gee,” Talo said, “ You really are amazing, Link!”
“ No, Talo, I’m really not…” Link said, embarrassed by their praise of his skils.
“ Yeah, you are!” Beth said, “ You can use swords and slingshots and everything!”
“ Hey, yeah, that reminds me,” Talo said, picking up a stick and holding it like a sword, “ You’ve gotta teach us how to use a sword, too!”
“ Do you seriously want to learn?”
“ Seriously! Lately these monkeys have been coming out of the woods and playing tricks on us! We want to get them GOOD!”
“ I don’t know Talo…Rusl has always said that that isn’t the type of thing you use a sword for…”
“ C’mon,” Talo begged,” teach us how to use a sword!”
“ Oh…All right…”
“ YES! All right! First off, we wanna see THAT move! The slice!”
“ OK, You just go like this and…”
Link gripped the handle of his wooden sword tightly in his left hand and swung it sidways at the dummy.
“ Wow! A horizontal slice! Was that it? Was it?”
“ Yeah,” Link said, stepping back from the dummy, “ That’s what it was.”
“ I think I’ve seen you do a vertical slice too. All right next…”
“ Ooh! Ooh!” Beth interupted, “ I wana see that other move Link! The one where you just flex your muscles and stab!”
“ Oh, please. The stab?” Malo mumbled, rolling his eyes.
Still holding the sword tightly in his left hand Link thrust his sword straight towards the dummy; parallel to the ground. The dummy rocked back on its pole from the impact.
“ Ooh, Link! Just amazing!” Beth exclaimed, clapping her hands together, “ Since you’re at it, how about you show us that other move…”
“ Which one?” Link asked, having a feeling about which one she would request.
“ Y’know, that little twirly thing you do! I love that! What do you call it? A spin attack?”
Bracing his weight on his right foot Link kicked off with his left and spun in a perfect circle. Knocking the dummy twice with his sword and rocking it so far back that it almost snapped the support pole.
“ Ooh, WOW! Thanks, Link,” she said, smiling at full blast, “ I’m sorry you have to waste your time with these little brats when you must be tired from doing all the important stuf you do!”
“ Hey, wait!” Talo said, slightly annoyed at Beth for hogging all of Link’s attention, “ You gotta show us the jump attack before you go! You know, the one where you go ‘HYAAH!’ and leap through the air!”
“ You mean this one?” Link said, grinning mischeviously and jumping towards the dummy; smacking it squarely in the center of its ‘head’ and breaking the pumpkin in half.
“ WHOA!” all the kids exclaimed in slack-jawed awe.
“ Thanks, Link!” Talo said, when his breath had finally caught back up with him, “ So, uh, I…I think I get it…Kinda… Hmmm…Maybe not…So this means that anytime one of those naughty monkeys shows up…WAH!”
Talo shouted out as he noticed that one of those monkeys had just wandered into the area in front of Link’s house and was watching them. When it saw that it had been spotted however it turned tail and ran back into the woods.
“ C’MERE, YOU!” Talo shouted, chasing after it with Beth and Malo following after him.