When Link had been chosen to take his journey, he knew it would be dangerous. The nightmares he had been having about the Gerudo in black armor confirmed those feelings. The hero was on his way to one of many temples to free the sages from Ganondorf's curse and stop him from claiming the power of the Triforce in the Sacred Realm.
However, the darkness was spreading, and Link, who was especially sensitive to it, knew that things had become far worse over the past seven years. Even the forest where he lived as a child was affected by the darkness that Ganondorf brought to the land. The hero had expected that things would only get more dangerous, but he didn't know just how many monsters Ganondorf had sent to destroy him.
As a result, Link had been badly injured on his way to the Forest Temple. Knowing that turning back wasn't an option, Link continued through the Deku Scrub maze, battling Moblins and other ferocious monsters. His hope rested on finding something to treat his injuries, like a magic recovery heart, or, if he was lucky, a fairy.
Meanwhile, in the forest meadow, Sprite was hovering lazily in the fairy fountain near Kokiri Forest. She usually enjoyed splashing around in the crystal clear water and flying through the trees with the other fairies. However, ever since Ganondorf's Moblins had infested the forest maze surrounding the fountain, the fairies had no choice but to remain hidden.
Seven years ago, the fairies could frolic and play without fear of Ganondorf's minions, It was usually pretty peaceful, aside from the rare summons from the Great Deku Tree and the occasional Kokiri child who would play near the spring. Now, however, all of Hyrule was crawling with evil monsters, and fairies were afraid of being captured, whether by creature or human.
Though the fountain was underground, the gem embedded walls gleamed brightly and the water sparkled. It seemed so peaceful that Sprite almost didn't sense the potential danger approaching.
She heard him before she saw him; a Kokiri traveler splashing through the spring. He held a glass bottle in his hand, ready to capture some unsuspecting fairies.
Most of the fairies flew to the opposite side of the fountain, away from the adventurer's bottle, but Sprite stayed where she was, staring with intrigue at the traveler.
Usually the Kokiri were children, but this boy seemed to be seventeen or eighteen, and he looked weary, as if he had been injured from a recent battle with a formidable monster. Maybe he had run into the Moblins in the maze, and had battled them to reach the fairy spring.
"What a brave hero." Sprite thought, wondering if the warrior could be the one to save the fairy fountain.
The hero was clothed in the green of fields and carried a sword and a shield adorned with the Hylean crest. So maybe he wasn't Kokiri after all. He was from Hyrule. But, who was this hero? Whoever he was, he was hurt, and needed help.
Two of the fairies, who sensed the adventurer's distress, hovered lazily closer until they reached him. They then flew around him in speedy circles, granting their healing blessing.
Link sighed with relief as new life surged through him. Now that he was healed, he could continue his quest. But he couldn't leave just yet, not if he wanted to make it through the rest of his mission in one piece. Hoping not to startle the tiny creatures, the Hylean crept towards the other glowing fairies in the fountain.
"Just one…" Link mutter under his breath. If he was going to tackle another monster infested dungeon, he wanted to be prepared. He splashed through the fairy spring, holding the glass bottle aloft.
Sprite thought the boy looked a lot better. Her friends' magic had done its work. But what interested her most was the fairy circling around the hero's head. She recognized that fairy, even after seven years.
"Navi?" Sprite whispered in surprise. She hadn't seen her friend since she had been summoned by the Great Deku Tree. Navi must have been asked to be that hero's guardian fairy when he was a child.
Sprite was just imagining what kind of adventure Navi and the hero could be embarking on, when she heard a triumphant voice behind her.
"Gotcha!" Before she knew what was going on, she was scooped up in the adventurer's bottle as it lightly skimmed the surface of the water in the fairy spring.
By the time Sprite had recomposed herself, Link had already twisted the lid onto the bottle, trapping her inside. As the hero gazed momentarily at his prize, he flashed the tiny fairy a reassuring smile that seemed to say "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
Link gently placed the bottle securely in the side pocket of his pack so his healing fairy wouldn't get jostled around during his adventure. Then, he left the fairy spring, destined, Sprite realized, for the Forest Temple.
Despite the hero's reassurance that she would come to no harm, Sprite was not too thrilled with her current circumstances. She didn't like being confined to a tiny bottle by an adventurer headed for who knew where. She wondered what the hero wanted with her, and she wanted to return to her spring in the forest more than anything.
From her spot in the bottle, Sprite saw that Navi got to fly next to the brave hero, giving him useful advice on overcoming the obstacles in his path from time to time. Sprite wished they could fly together, but she hadn't been let out of her glass prison. She wondered why the hero bothered to capture her if she was just going to be trapped inside the bottle. At least Navi knew why she was traveling with him. It wasn't fair!
As Link ventured deeper and deeper into the Forest Temple, battling vicious monsters that grew more formidable by the minute, he became weaker. Though he was almost through the temple, his strength was nearly exhausted, and his biggest challenge was yet to come.
Eventually, Link came to a large chamber at the heart of the temple. He stepped onto a stone platform in the middle of the room and gazed around at the dark paintings on the walls.
At first, Link didn't see what the big deal about this room was, and turned back to the door. However, his only exit had been blocked by strong iron bars! Now he was trapped!
Link stared at the iron bars that were blocking his way, an increased feeling of dread washing over him. He sensed an evil presence lurking in the room. The Hylean turned around once again, and came face to face with the phantom of the enemy that had haunted his nightmares; the desert man in black armor on horseback who was threatening to destroy Hyrule!
Without hesitation, Link mustered his courage, drew the Master Sword and charged into battle. At first, everything was going in Link's favor. Each time the phantom would travel into one of the paintings and multiply himself to try to confuse him, Link managed to attack the real phantom with his fairy bow before he could blast the hero with lightning.
After getting zapped by a few magic arrows, Phantom Gannon was weakened significantly, and relied on his vast reserves of powerful magic to bring the hero down. Link had already been bombarded with lightning and fiery explosions and he was almost too weak to stand. Now the phantom unleashed a sphere of golden energy, which Link deflected with his sword.
The gleaming projectile sailed back towards the phantom, but the enemy deflected it once again. Link thought it was like ping pong, except for the fact that he was fighting an evil nightmare of a phantom, he was nearly out of energy, and the fate of the world was on the line.
If Link took another hit, he would be defeated for sure. He was focusing all of his energy on reflecting the phantom's light sphere. However, after the energy blast was deflected for about the fourteenth time, Phantom Ganon struck the glowing sphere with such force that Link hadn't raised his sword in time.
"Ungh!" Link groaned as the energy blast struck him in the chest. His strength spent, the hero fell to the ground in exhaustion. How could it end like this? He couldn't fail! Not now! He needed another chance to turn this battle around.
In the second before panic clouded his mind, the hero thought of the only thing that could save him and ensure his victory, and made one last, desperate reach for the fairy in the bottle.
When the hero went down, Sprite was too shocked to move at first. The warrior had already overcome so many trials to get here. Why did he have to lose it all now? He had come so close to reaching his goal. Now she'd never figure out what the hero wanted from her, why he had taken her freedom from her.
The tiny fairy looked at the hero and saw that he was reaching towards her! That evil phantom had weakened him so much, and his injuries were even worse than when he had visited the fairy spring. It was than that Sprite understood why the hero had 'trapped' her in his bottle. He needed her!
Determined not to fail him, Sprite spread her wings and soared from the bottle, which the Hylean had used the last of his strength to open. Concentrating and pleading with all her might, she circled around the brave warrior, sprinkling him with fairy magic.
Slowly, the Hylean rose to his feet. He gripped the Master Sword tightly in his hand. He stared for a moment at the tiny healing fairy that had given him a second chance, and watched gratefully as she flew away. Then, he charged into battle to overcome the evil phantom.
Sprite was about to fly away to find an exit from the temple. She hadn't gotten very far when the hero uttered two words, a token of appreciation that was quickly drowned out by the tide of the battle that followed.
"Thank you!"
Sprite stopped short in the air. All feelings of resentment seemed to vanish from the fairy's heart and were replaced with floods of compassion and a sense of purpose. The fairy stared silently as the hero brought the fight with the phantom to a close with one last spin attack.
"That's why…" Sprite whispered to herself as comprehension dawned on her, and flew away to return to her fairy fountain.
Link watched as the ghostly Gerudo vanished from the room, defeated. Now, he was one step closer to rescuing the land of Hyrule from destruction. As he stepped into the magical beam that would transport him out of the Forest Temple, he once again thought of, and silently thanked, the little fairy who had made his victory a reality.