Kooloo-Limpah!
The words rolled effortlessly off the paunchy man's tongue as he danced gaily around the spring meadow. Oh, what joy! What joy there was to be had, he thought to himself as he jumped up and down, left and right, and all in between. He wanted to shout; he wanted to scream; he wanted to laugh, for his fortune had finally found him. For there in front of him was what he had spent so long looking for. A forest fairy.
A small bright ball floated in front of him, illuminating the pond below it with a bluish-yellowish-greenish light. Tingle put his hands to his cheeks in sheer ecstasy, for he had waited so long to see this dream come true. He had found his forest fairy home.
"Fairy! Fairy! It is I, Tingle!" he called out to the fairy. It was maybe thirty feet away, so he skipped and hopped his way over to the fairy, plopped himself in front of it, and eyed it. Its wings were translucent, and he could just make out the faint shape of a body underneath the light. It seemed humanoid enough. Made sense, of course, as Tingle was a fairy, and he was humanoid in shape, too!
"Fairy, I am Tingle, the most regal fairy of Clock Town, and maker of maps for all to see where they are going." Tingle introduced himself with a regal refinery, fitting only for a fairy. "I have come to be taken to fairyland, where I can be at home with my fairy brethren." He left out that this would prove to his father that he was a fairy. He would think about that at another time.
Then there was a faint voice. A whisper, perhaps, unless all fairies spoke with such soft elegance. "Tingle, you are indeed worthy to come to fairyland. Please follow me through the forest and you will find the fairy kingdom. There you will be treated to the most pleasant delights of our land. The softest feathered pillows, the tastiest treats, and the harmoniest musics."
Tingle clapped his hands together and stood up, spinning once and yelling out "Tingle Tingle Kooloo-Limpah!" before looking back to the fairy. It bobbed up and down in the air, and then started to float away from him. Tingle started after the fairy, running as fast as his stubby legs would allow him to go - which was not very fast at all - into the line of trees ahead of him. And he ran for what felt like hours. He felt so energized, though. So he kept running, but so it seemed he could not keep up with the fairy. The fairy was so deft in the air, flying around twigs and branches so agilely. Tingle, however, had to work up the muscle to climb over the undergrowth on the forest floor.
Soon it seemed to pay off. He could see the edge of the forest in the distance, and the light from the golden sun. So he gathered his strength and ran faster than he had ever done before in his life. Tingle nearly wept as he saw the silhouette of fairyland in between the tree trunks; it was so beauteous, and everything he had ever imagine. He took his first step out into the light. He could see fairyland. He was almost there!
And then he fell. There was a thud. All he could tell was that every inch of his body was in terrible, agonizing pain. Then he felt someone press glass against his lips. He was in too much pain to open his eyes to the world. He opened his lips, and felt a gooey liquid caress his tongue and wash down his throat. It tasted sweet, and with it he felt the pain in his body recede. Tingle managed to open his eyes a sliver, and saw standing over him a young boy garbed in a green tunic. The boy was bent over him with a worried look in his eyes. The boy must have realized that Tingle was conscious, as he gave a warm smile and said, "Good, it seems you're okay."
Tingle felt dazed as he got up off the ground and dusted off his leggings. Looking around, he realized that he was still in North Clock Town. His lips pursed for a moment, but then he took a deep breath. He looked back to the kid, who was now stuffing a bottle away. The kid looked back to Tingle. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Link."
"I'm… Tingle," he started slowly, trying to reconcile with himself over his apparent daydream. "I'm a map maker. Hrm, would you be able to tell me what just happened?"
At this point, the boy brought up one of his hands to the back of his neck and turned a light shade of red. "Well, y'see, I was trying to pop this giant balloon that was bothering some of the other kids. I fired and arrow at it, but I guess I didn't notice your balloon was lined up with the other balloon, so I kinda, sorta shot you down," he trailed off near the end, his voice becoming an embarrassed murmur. He then smiled again, and added, "You said you're a mapmaker, right? Well, since I did shoot you down, how about I make up for it, and buy a map?"
Tingle lit up at this and spun around, pulling a map out from his back pocket and marketing it at a measly thirty rupees. It was a perfect Clock Town map which he drew with his aerial view of the town. A perfect map for any and all that wanted to find a spot in town!
"Do we really need a map for the town? I've been around here a lot, Link," a small voice echoed. It caught Tingle off guard for a moment, because he didn't see anyone else around the boy. He looked to the left. He looked to the right. He looked down. He looked up. There was no one around! And then he noticed the rustling of his hat, and a small ball of light made its way out and began to float right out in front of the boy's face. "We need to save up our rupees for something more important, right now, and every time this happens, you offer to buy something from… people," at this point, Tingle was confused and amazed. This creature's words were going in one ear and out the other, because he was simply transfixed on the creature itself. A…a…a forest fairy!
"A forest fairy!" he squee'd, nearly hopping in joy in the process. "You both must be from the forest, right? Yes, of course! Where are my manners? I am Tingle, of the forest fairies! Now, don't let my looks deceive you. I may be 35, but I still am a forest fairy!"
At this point, Tingle expected the child to be frightened or surprised, or disgusted. This was the usual response when Tingle told someone he was a fairy. But instead, the boy seemed as if he had already known this. His response was of stoic impressment! This only reinforced what Tingle knew; this boy was of the forest. "My father tells me to grow up, and a fairy hasn't come to me yet, but seeing a fairy with you has lightened my hopes of meeting my own one day!" The boy nodded along to this with patience rare in youth his age, which Tingle liked, and handed the map to him, stating, "For you, free of charge!"
The boy gave his thanks, and he ran off, his fair following closely behind. Tingle let out a long sigh, internally wishing that his own fairy would someday come to him.
Once they were out of Tingle's View, Link pulled out the map of Clock Town and frowned. Tatl bobbed in front of him, shaking to the left in right in condemnation.
"We didn't need another map, Link," Tatl said.
"I felt it was only right we bought it, since I hurt him."
"We already got a map from him though. Not like he remembers, but still, we have the map."
"I felt like it was only right to repay him somehow. I guess we didn't have to use rupees this time. He was pretty happy just to see you, like always." At this, Tatl shook more violently.
"Urgh, that guy just… creeps me out. Link, just toss the map, and let's get going to Snowhead, alright?"
"Sure," Link responded as he laid the map down on a nearby bench. Hopefully, he thought to himself, somebody else would find use in the map. He certainly wouldn't, even if Tingle couldn't recall it.
With thanks to my friend, Samus of the Cranes, for beta-ing!