The Middle of Ordon Village

Ilia planned to ride Epona near Ordon Village, but not into it. As long as she got away from the wolf she'd be fine, but had the chance to double back around and reclaim her underclothes, that would be perfect, but that was a moot point because Epona stopped heeding her commands entirely. She had always been a willful mare, but Ilia felt like they had a special connection, an understanding that went beyond reins and bridles.

She was wrong. Epona took her to Ordon Village by the main road, but instead of slowing down, she started galloping faster. "No, Epona! You have to stop!" But the horse ignored her. It must have been the wolf, Ilia decided. The beast had frightened the horse, and now Epona wanted to go somewhere safe regardless of Ilia's nudity. In a moment of desperation, Ilia considered throwing herself from Epona's back and continuing on foot, but at the speed they were going, that would risk breaking her neck, and as humiliating it would be for some of her neighbors to see her naked, it wasn't a fate worse than death.

Ilia kept telling herself that.

But before they reached the main part of the village, she heard a howl behind her. It was the wolf–that thrice-cursed wolf, as though summoned from the deepest pit of hell to torment her, howling at the sky. People throughout the village heard that howl, and in a rural community like Ordon, everyone knew what it meant. They looked around, leaving their homes to check on their chickens and their goats and anything else a hungry wolf might like for dinner.

But instead of a wolf, they saw Ilia, riding into town on Epona's back without a stitch of clothing. Then, once her audience included nearly everyone she knew, Ilia felt Epona rear up on her hind legs, throwing Ilia from her back. The crowd gathered around her, to see if she was hurt or just to get a closer look at her naked body. She rolled to her feet and covered herself with her arms as best she could, which was hardly at all. She was nearly home, but between where she was and the privacy behind the walls of her house stood nearly everyone she had ever met.