It is a universal truth that all young boys are blissfully ignorant to the insignificance of their worldly presence. To them, a small village, barely forty acres all around, seemed like a pathetic prison- one which a boy with enough spirit could rule over with an iron fist. Link had plenty of spirit, or so he'd been told, and thus imagined that, instead of being precariously perched atop a beam on the old baker's roof, he was sitting on a fabulous throne of plush velvet and surrounded by loyal consorts.

The fantasy flew from his inattentive mind as quickly as it had come- for what dirty street rat could ever be king! However, he liked his humble lifestyle well enough; it was carefree and easy, even though he had not a coin to his name. Besides, he was quite convinced that no royal palace could have a view so splendid as the one from his perch. There, he could view Kokiri Village in its entirety and gawk at its scenic magnificence. Just below was an expanse of colorful canopies that shaded the shopkeepers that vehemently thrust their goods at the passersby. He smiled at the bustle, and mused to himself about he could never be caught dead in the marketplace on a Sunday.

Just beyond the bustling bazaar was the oasis, which provided the village with fresh water. It was a wide, park-like area where children played heroes and lovers fed each other dried figs beneath the grand date palm tree that hung over the crystal spring. The surrounding area was covered in lush grass and wildflowers- rarities, even among the most prosperous of desert oases, untouched by human hands. Though the scene was perfectly picturesque, it could not hold his attention long, for Link's serene thoughts scattered as a pebble came flying forward and smacked him square in the middle of his forehead.

The pebble fell and bounced off of Link's thigh, rolled across the thatched roof and plummeted towards the ground below. Following the stone with his gaze, he leaned cautiously over the edge, only to be met with the unceremonious glare of the local gardener's daughter- Saria. She had her lips pursed into a perfect circle, and her brow was knit together in a scrutinizing manner, giving her round eyes a stern look. Link flinched, though he was well accustomed to the disapproving gaze, and immediately hopped down from the roof in fear of the girlish wrath that might await him otherwise.

It wasn't a very long jump- after all, his feet only stung a little, and even if he'd lost his balance there was a taught awning hanging over the bakery's window to catch him. Still, Saria had a hand clasped over her mouth, and her eyes briefly softened with concern before she abruptly smacked him upside the head.

"Goddess above! You scared me half to death!" she cried, raising her hands to rest upon her hips. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you've gone mad with heatstroke! What would father say?"

Saria had always been a worrywart, and not without reason for sure, but Link couldn't help but grin at her. Even her father, who had generously taken him in when he was abandoned in the streets as a babe, had never been so fretful as she. Perhaps it was because the her father knew Link could handle himself? Wishful thinking- No, it was far more likely that he simply knew that Saria had enough worry in her for the both of them and contented himself with other tasks. Either way, Link felt affection seeping from the both of them, so he didn't much dwell on the subject.

Saria was not much pleased with Link's cheeky grin, and with a pout on her lips she grabbed and held him by the tip of his pointed ear. He flinched and crinkled his nose, but did not resist as she tugged him along the busy Kokiri streets.

The crowd had thinned out considerably, and somewhere along the way Saria had released her hold on Link's ear. He rubbed the side of his face with pursed lips, kicking the sand while she lectured him about responsibility.

"Papa had work for you to do, you know, but when he went to go ask you you were nowhere to be found!" Her nostrils flared as she spoke, and though he was considering her words, his eyes were scanning the cloudless sky above. Saria furrowed her brow. "Are you even listening? Papa's getting old, Link. I can't do everything around the house and take care of you."

She let out another huff, finally surrendering to the fact that Link wouldn't change his carefree ways of his own volition. He was glad her chatter had ceased now, because his ears had fallen on a different voice altogether- No, two voices.

"Have ya heard?" said the first, a low drawl likely belonging to an older gentlemen.

"Heard what?" the second replied in a slower tone, sounding aloof and altogether disinterested.

"'Bout the resistance!" There was the distinctive crack of a hand against a sweaty shoulder, followed by a yelp, before the first man continued in a softer voice, "The Shiekahs... They're plannin' on raidin' the imperial city 'n takin' down the king."

Link slowed his pace to a stop. He'd heard almost nothing of the king since he could remember- but maybe that was because he had too short an attention span to care much for politics, especially at his age. Still, something about this conspiracy theory caught and held his attention. He listened closely, ignoring Saria's questioning glare.

"Dumbass!" came the second man's voice once more. "Don'tcha know all them Shiekahs 'r whatever are dead? They got obliterated in the Holy War! There ain't none left."

"I know, I know- but what if they ain't dead? What if a couple of 'em survived and they've been hidin' out somewhere 'n waitin' 'n now they wanna take back what was theirs in the first place?"

There was another crack, though heavier this time, and the older man grunted. "Dumbass."

There was no more talk after this. Now, however, Link became aware of Saria tugging gently at his fingers. The look in her eyes as she urged him forward made him cock a brow. She looked... scared. Terrified, actually, and he didn't understand why. Was it the conversation they'd overheard? He didn't understand that either.

He didn't understand anything.

The memory played inside Link's mind, over and over again. The men's voices, Saria's somber expression... What had it meant? Even now, as he sat above the bakery with his knees tucked under his chin, he couldn't understand. It was like trying to decipher gibberish. He slipped his tongue through his teeth and raspberried his frustration.

Guilt tugged at his heart as he sat, staring at the silhouette of the oasis past the now-empty market. He briefly wondered what Saria would think if she were to awaken in the middle of the night and find him gone. Would she come after him. Would she lecture him again? He smiled at the thought. It was impossible to take her seriously when her face was so round and... nonthreatening- though he shuddered to think what she'd be like as a grown woman.

Link's wandering thoughts came to a skidding halt, however, when a dim sort of glowing light snatched his attention. He was excited, at first, hoping that the bazaar had caught fire, but as he squinted through the darkness he found that it was just as dull as always. What lay past it, on the other hand, was a sight to behold!

The oasis was glowing like a firefly in the distance, and quite magnificently, too. The water's surface sparkled and shimmered, reflecting the pinkish gleam of whatever danced on top of it. He'd never seen anything so spectacular in his life, and before he quite knew what he was doing, he was off the roof and racing through the dead market as fast as his bare feet could carry him. It felt like eons, though he weaved through the dark stalls with speed and mobility he didn't know he possessed.

As the sparkling water grew nearer and nearer, he saw how different everything looked. He'd been to this place a thousand times, he was sure, and yet he'd never seen it so alive. The grass came up to his knees and vines crept through through the bazaar like snakes slithering through a maze, wrapping around his ankles and consuming any and all structures in their path. He tripped over his own feet and fell forward, now up to his neck in vegetation as he stared at the glowing surface in front of him.

He saw a stranger in the water- no, it was him, most definitely, but it wasn't him. It wasn't the current Link he saw in the mirror every day. This Link was older, with a longer face and thicker hair. It frightened him, so much so that he scrambled backwards and fell on his back in the grass.

There he stayed for many minutes, until something tickled his nose. His eyes fluttered open, and he was astonished to find an impossibly small woman leaning over the bridge of his nose. She giggled and zipped out of his line of sight and Link, his heart pounding like a drum, shot up in response. He pulled himself to his feet and the small woman danced in front of his face. He saw now that she was not just a pin-sized lady, no; her skin was tinted a luminescent blue, and she had a magnificent pair of dragonfly wings fluttering behind her. She was a fairy.

Link had never seen a fairy before- in fact, he'd doubted their very existence- but how could he doubt now that there was one floating, dancing, twirling towards the water's surface? And... how could he not follow her?

As if entranced, he staggered forward. The freezing water stung his toes, but he did not flinch, and did stop until he was waist-deep in thick, glowing water. His legs were going numb, but he didn't care. He extended his hands, fingers trembling; the fairy danced in his palms. Others of her kind twirled and leaped on the waters surface, dancing sweetly around him in perfect synchronization. He grinned. Had they taken a liking to him?

Perhaps, he thought, if he couldn't be king of the people, he could be king of the fairies.

And so they took him.