It was not an uncommon thing to see Link yawning in history, or in any other class for that matter. He wasn't a morning person, and tended to stay up late into the night. He managed to get by in school, though barely.

Saria, his childhood friend, shook her head at the yawn that drew the attention of half the kids in the class. She had naturally green hair, a sweet smile, and was much more healthy in her loved to read in the public parks and on the rooftop garden of the library. Camping, hiking, and gardening were her favorite things to do, and she often dragged Link along on her adventures. He was tolerant of them, but had little real interest. He was more than happy to go out of his way to spend time with Saria, though,so it made the trips worth it.

The teen, dressed in a plain green t-shirt and tan pants, glared balefully at the clock. Ten more minutes to go and he was free to go home for ten minutes, then straight off to work.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his name. "Link, since you look so engaged, perhaps you could tell me the reason we don't have much left of the people of Hyrule's history past a few hundred years?"

The teen frowned at his bird-like teacher. The Rito, Professor Gullon, has a constantly stern expression and incredible vision. He was liked by almost all his students, but was a bit stricter than most teachers. He was also a source of much curiosity amongst students, as the Rito were generally a reclusive race not seen oft in New Hyrule.

Link leaned back in his chair. "There was a flood, correct?"

The Rito smirked. "Yes, as is common knowledge. But less common is why no history was kept between then and the founding of New Hyrule."

"Everyone was too busy worrying about more flooding?" there was a collective giggle throughout the room.

"No, Link. There was no central government and no place to keep records. All that really survived was the legend of the green-clothed hero. The Hero of Winds himself is fabled to be a descendant of the old hero."

"If either of them existed…"

"What do you mean…?" The RIto didn't seem angry, merely curious and Link sighed.

"I mean that there's no proof either even existed, just stories. I mean, people say that the old hero traveled in time and prevented an apocalypse, and the Hero of Winds raised a Temple from the Sea. I find that a bit hard to believe."

The old Rito nodded slowly. "There was a time when no one questioned the plausibility of these tales."

"There was also a time when your people were post workers, and when people wore tunics and when people all believed in magic triangles. Will all due respect, sir, I don't buy it. I love fantasy, but that's all it is: fantasy."

"Okay." The birdman smiled. "I'll respect that. But is it important to know these stories, at least?"

Link was silent for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Saria watched him with an unreadable look in her eyes and when he noticed her focus he nodded, not looking away from her. "Yes. Not only is it a source of inspiration, it gives New Hyrule a consistent link to it's past. The heroes have been glorified for years, and they're all connected and give Hyrule an identity, like the green we have on our flag. The old hero, the Wind Waker, the Conductor of Spirit. They probably existed in some form, but likely represent multiple divisions of knights who did heroic things, not a single child. The heroes represent our lost past and don't let us completely forget our humble origins." It was half bullshit, but Link found himself pleased that he could adequately defend the importance of the legends he, and Saria, held in high regard.

Pleased, Professor Gullon was about to comment, when the bell ring and the room was immediately filled with metal-on-tile scrapes as teens rushed to gather their stuff. "Hold it!" the teacher squawked. The students all froze, some halfway to the door, some halfway through cramming their stuff into schoolbags, and some halfway between sitting and standing. "Homework over the weekend-" the class groaned collectively and the professor raised his voice over them "Will be to write a short paper on what your favorite stories are and their importance in society. I won't give you a minimal requirement in length, but I do want to see a meaningful point made." This was met with more groaning. "It can be a single paragraph if you know what you're doing. This said, have a wonderful break!"

He was left with a collective cheer and smiles, already a good start to his own break.

Saria and Link walked down the hall together like always, Link listening quietly to his childhood friend. "I read an amazing book the other day!" She informed him and received an encouraging nod. "It talked about spirits called the Korok that live on a forest island on the great sea. Only a few people have seen them, and it's rumored that the Hero of Wind was one of them…" she dropped off awkwardly as she remembered Link's reasonings in class. "So, you really don't believe in the Heroes?" she asked, immediately curious.

"I think they represent the collective deeds of a bunch of knights at different times, I don't think anyone is or was capable of saving an entire kingdom. And the magic bit is just hyperbole."

She nodded, but her eyes became sad. "I guess that makes sense."

Link frowned at her sudden quietness. "I'm not saying it's impossible, just unlikely. I mean, wouldn't magic still be around if it existed?"

"Maybe people just can't see it anymore!" She suggested, suddenly gaining verbal momentum. "I mean, people are so concerned with money and games and work and construction, isn't it possible that we've just isolated ourselves from it?"

This stunned Link into silent contemplation as they boarded a bus bound for their neighbourhood. Saria didn't mind, just going on excitedly. "I think if people sought it out, they could find it! Oh, Link, let's go to that island!"

He raised his eyebrows at her, skeptical and amused. "Saria, how? I have a job, we don't have the money to go to the sea and rent a boat, and do we even have the slightest idea where this island might be?"

"Link, I know you don't believe in magic, but I do. We'd find a way! It'll be an adventure!"

The word 'adventure' stirred something nostalgic in Link. How often had his imagination turned the park into a vast field he traversed on horseback or the balcony in his house into the deck of a great ship careening about in the ocean? He'd always had a vivid imagination and dreams, but the last few years had crunched his spare time into non-existence. Between homework, a job, and his parkour lessons, the time he used to devote to his mind had been sold to the fantasy MMOs he played and the occasional book. 'Master of the Amulets' series and it's prequel, 'The Kokiri' were his favorites, and he'd almost ended up taking fencing classes because of them. It hadn't worked out, however, so he'd turned to a local parkour group his friend set up for both exercise and to satisfy the adventurous side of him. A smile appeared on his lips as he remembered the free feeling of his hobby, leaping over gaps and running up walls as if he had winged shoes. Perhaps setting sail wouldn't be bad, and with his oldest friend by his side…

His phone ringing made the vision crash down and reminded him of the hundreds of issues with just running off. "Saria, people can't just run off on adventures anymore - it doesn't work like that. The closest thing is vacations or books." He answered the call and tried to ignore the way his friend's shoulders visibly sagged.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Fairy Boy!"

Link inwardly groaned. His boss was calling him? This couldn't be good. Why haden;t he checked the caller ID?

"Mr. Tingle, what a surprise. What's up?" Saria's blue eyes glanced at Link curiously, her positive demeanor overriding her disappointment for the moment.

""Well, Mr. Faerie, you're a lucky, lucky boy!"

Goddesses, he hated his surname. "I've told you, Link is fine." he suggested disheartenedly. Saria giggled, quickly deducing the reason for Link's assertion of his name.

"We're doing renovations! I know you have summer break, so you'll be happy to know that the remodeling will give you a couple months off, you're completely free after today!"

Link blinked in complete surprise. "A couple months off?"

"Yes Sirree! You can thank me b loaning me some of your family's magical secrets!"

How his boss had started three of the most popular fast food chains in the world was beyond Link. The man was 35, yet had the mind of a whimsical 6-year-old. He seemed to believe full-heartedly that Link's last name, 'Faerie' implied supernatural heritage. It didn't. It came from part of his lineage that used to guard shrines dedicated to the creatures. His mom's side had come from a line of knights, the occupation becoming their familial name as well, but of course it was tradition to take the male's name. Regardless of this, Mr. Tingle insisted that Link share the secrets passed down from his fairy relatives at least once every time they spoke. Really, the head of McTingles, Taco Tingle, and TIngles Pizza should be more mature, but he was happy, so no one really cared. Except Link, who was exasperated by the Fairy thing. He guessed he was lucky that the founder was so friendly and down-to-earth enough to actually manage his own location, but he wished Tingle was more down-to-earth in other respects.

"The most magical secret my family has is Grandma's soup recipe…" he tried half-heartedly.
Tingle giggled. "Oh, don't worry, I won't pry. I wouldn't want your magical wrath upon me!"

Link dropped his head onto the back of the empty chair in front of him. Saria stifled laughter beside him.

"Oh, I have to go! My dad came to visit. See you soon, Fairy Boy!" The boss hung up before Link could ask about pay over the leave, so he just sighed and slid the phone shut.

"Link, you just got two whole months off work, that's enough time to find the island…" Saria suggested, her eyes glittering with reluctant hope.

Her male companion leaned back in his chair. "We'll see, Saria. I just don't think it can happen." he said, feeling that it really couldn't. The news of not working in two months brought him joy, however, so his mood was willing to placate Saria's dream just that little bit.

She smiled. "Okay! I'm going to go to the meadow for a bit when we get home, but I'll stop by your work later!"

"Okay," Link reflected the happy looks, glad for the promised company until her look faltered. "What?"

"Is Zelda going to be there?" Saria asked, a slight tint of worry in her voice.

The green-clad boy tried to remember the other girl's schedule. "Yeah, I think so." he relented cautiously, as Saria always seemed nervous around the blond. "you'll still come though, right?"

She smiled again, though it was noticeably smaller than before. "Of course."

"Great!" Link grinned and settled back into his seat. Saria laughed. "Is it that boring?" She asked, leaning her head against him comfortably. He closed his eyes and grunted in affirmation, taken back to days past when they hadn't a care in the world and could sit like this against a tree and talk for hours. Now though, they sat in silence as the growling of the bus drew them inward, Saria daydreaming of finding that island and Link caught up in memories and in what Saira had said about being closed off to magic. He may not be able to take her to the great sea, but at very least they could go camping over the summer wasn'like they had much time to do it left either. Both turned 18 before the next summer break and their lives were directed in very different directions. Saria loved the arts, and was very skilled at them musically and visually. She planned to study art hands-on in different parts of New Hyrule whilst Link wanted to stay and make his way developing games, if he could. Neither ever talked about the looming separation, and neither wanted to break the illusion of the eternal unity that as children had seemed a solid entity and now was dissolving into something neither could define. 'Don't dwell on the future, live every moment with full-hearted passion' Saria had told him once over a chess game when they were 12. She'd chuckled and added 'Though, I suppose chess is an exception. You need to think ahead or something like this will happen.' and she'd taken Link's queen with a well-placed knight. Link had been winning until that point, and once his queen was taken he made a valiant effort to recover, but it had been in vain.

Memories and comfortable moments like this were becoming too obscure for either of their liking.

When they got to their stop they parted with a hug and went their separate ways.