The Ranch and The Woods

So first, a little side-questing.  Yee-haw!  Already, we can do some exploring without the game having a panic attack!  Our side-quest nets us some more skulltulla tokens which prove invaluable to us later, and we also get a bottle of lon-lon milk, the real value being in that empty bottle we now have.  Bottles are one of the best Zelda items ever.  Now, has anyone noticed how lazy Talon is?  Everytime we've met him so far, he's been sleeping around.  How exactly is that good for productivity?  We're not the only ones who share this opinion...his assistant, Ingo, thinks it's unfair that such a lazy bum has all the breaks and he has to slave all day making Talon look good...this jealousy eventually turns him evil later on, but I digress.  He's pretty creepy so he's a fitting villain.  Our major purpose of visiting was to see Malon, a reference to a previous game (as was Talon) and to learn Epona's Song.  Now this flegling horse no longer fears us, in fact, she kind of likes us.  Awwwe.

This is one of the more interesting synergies: after all, Malon and Talon were part of the Windfish's dream on Koholint Island, which if you remember from Link's Awakening, vanished when Link gathered the instruments of the sirens and awakened said Fish.  These aren't the same characters, however, their connection is unmistakable: both sets of characters are father/daughter, both sets of characters work with land for their livelihood and both Talons are lazy, both Malons "appealing" to Link.  It makes you wonder if the Windfish based those characters on these (most likely, as the events of LttP/Awakening happened after this title's.)

Anyway, we journey back to the Lost Woods for some nostalgia and a visit with Saria...she teaches us yet another song, one that will keep her close to our heart and says that "will be important later."  After all, the girl feels as though the Sacred Meadow in which you found her will one day be important to both of you and there is no mistaking her intuition, right?

More things are to be found in the Lost Woods than just Saria, for a wandering eye (as well as Castle Town, for those interested).  In the Lost Woods, a few games later and we have a piece of heart and a bigger slingshot bullet bag.  Apparently, the denizens of these woods enjoy games.  In Castle Town is the most frustrating mini-game yet: you have to have perfect aim, perfect timing and you have no room for error as you strike down ten targets for a bigger bullet bag.  Was it worth it?  Probably not, as we'll never use fifty bullets.  But let us keep going.  Our next stop is Kakariko Village, where Impa told us to go in the first place!  (She didn't tell us we had time for errands but we ran them anyway!)

MasterQuest Note - Nothing different on this leg of the journey.  Lon Lon Ranch and the Lost Woods retain the same structure that they did as before.