Chapter One_Star Crystal
Morning sunlight bathed the Gemling Tree in warm golden light, bringing it to life in a dazzling display of colour. The star crystals that hung from its branches danced to the joyous song drifting up from the base of the giant tree, sending rays of magenta and cerulean lancing into the sky. From his seat between the roots of the ancient tree, Link played his beautiful melody as the world blossomed into life.
When his sunrise song faded away, Link got to his feet as stared out over the ocean. Today was to be a holiday for everyone, because the princess was getting married. He scowled at the thought of her in the hands of another man and pulled out his boomerang.
May as well get a parting gift, he thought. Because that's what it was for him. A farewell that was never supposed to happen and yet was always expected. Why should it matter to him? He was, after all, a commoner and now even less important since his services were no longer needed. All he was good for now was being a guardian of the Gemling Tree.
Five years had passed since the defeat of Ganondorf and with them, the thrill of adventure. Now it was peaceful and, to tell the truth, plain boring.
With a flick of his wrist, his boomerang flew deftly through the air, slicing through it with ease and returning to his outstretched palm obediently. After a few seconds he caught the star crystal that fell from a fairly young branch. It was relatively small and glittered a magnificent shade of purple, close to mauve, which he thought the princess would love.
Link returned to his home in the old oak and set the star within a large flower that bloomed just outside his bedroom window. The flower only opened at night so he reasoned that the star would be safe until he found a chain to attach it to.
He thought a silver chain would be best and set to out to Old Man Hikko's furnace where he could fashion the links for the chain. Old Man Hikko was usually a cranky old sod to most people, but was actually very lonely. He enjoyed Link's visits, even if it was to give his sword and shield their touch up.
When he arrived, Link pushed the door open, knowing that Hikko wouldn't hear his knocking over the roar of the furnace. His house was the only one made out of stone in the village mainly because of the furnace but also because he came from a distant land where there were no trees and fire erupted from the land. So it was only natural that he stuck to his workshop where the furnace burned ferociously.
He continued through the front room and into the back room where the door to the workshop was closed shut. Link crossed the room to the door and heaved it open as a gush of hot air rushed past him, making him bring his arm up to shield his face.
"You're here early."
Link shouted out in surprise as a thick arm reached through a fog of steam and smoke to take hold of his own arm. The owner of the arm boomed a deep laugh and appeared out of the steam. For all his strength and loudness, he was but only four-and-a-half feet tall. The man had a belly the size of a big stewing pot and a grizzly black beard flecked with grey. He wore a blacksmith's apron and thick leather gloves. Link always wondered how the old man could live in such conditions but then remembered that lakes of scorching lava made his furnace feel like a candles flame. "Morning, Hikko. I just wanted to ask you a favour."
Hikko had waddled back through the smoky steam and was already banging away at a white hot rod with his hammer. The clang clang clang reverberated far out into the morning air and the distinctive smell of iron clung to the inside of Link's nostrils. To him, the forest air was far more easier to breath for an elf.
"Aye, and what would that be?" he huffed.
"I wanted to make a necklace chain. It's my parting gift for the princess." Link lowered his gaze after he mentioned her and thought of how he must have looked like a silly lovesick boy. So he quickly looked up with an expressionless face.
"I can get you one in one hour. Make sure you're back here by then." His gruff voice concealed his smile at the young man who, not too long ago, was just a boy
Link breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Hikko before leaving the workshop a little lighter than when he had gone in. It was probably a great deal due to the cool breeze compared to the heavy air, but he still couldn't bring himself to smile in the morning light. Too much was about to change and there was nothing he could do about it.
Beside the path he was walking along, a swift stream flowed in the same direction. It was shallow and clean enough from the mountain water that he could clearly see the smooth stones on the stream bed and just in front of them, his reflection stared back at him. He hadn't changed much. He still had a crop of honey-blonde hair and a strong jawbone. Though over the years, he had grown very tall and when he walked through the city streets, girls swooned over his handsome beauty. Link looked away from the man staring back at him and kicked a pebble into the water, splashing ripples distorting the reflected image. He was about to continue on his way when he heard a tiny shout.
The shout came from upriver, behind him and though he couldn't see anything, he went to investigate anyway. He had an hour to spare, but he felt as though the pain would be worse if he went to see the princess now. The palace was only on the other side of the forest, barely a twenty minute walk through the narrow part and yet it seemed like it would be a thousand miles when the time came for the wedding.
"Help!"
Link broke away from his thoughts as a tiny figure came floating downstream. She was only a few inches tall, but fairies knew powerful magics and therefore were coveted by collectors and bounty hunters. Link took a closer look and saw that she was tangled in a spider's web on a twig. The fairy struggled and flailed around but only succeeded in ensnaring her even more.
"Please, help me! Somebody!" she cried desperately.
"I'm coming, don't worry!" Link leapt into the stream, only a few feet deep and gently picked the fairy up from the rushing waters. She coughed and spluttered as she flicked her lace wings and thrashed about in the web when Link extracted the twig. Her face was flushed red and the little light she gave off now was dull and tired looking.
"No, get away from me! Help!" she pleaded.
"Keep still and I'll get this off of you," he reassured her with a friendly smile.
The fairy stopped trying to escape as Link's articulate fingers unraveled her and broke away the spider's silk. Once it was completely gone, she fluttered meagerly before dashing into a nearby bush without a second glance. Link cocked his head to the side and huffed absent mindedly as he walked away. "You're welcome."
There was no response from behind him and he half turned out of worry for the fairy. He thought about what she might have been through and decided to check. The bush where he saw her disappear was actually a very large bush now that he noticed and completely covered the base of a tall Elm. He used his hands to pry open part of it and to his dismay, saw that the inside was completely empty after looking throughout the whole bush.
"I guess that was fifteen minutes well wasted," he muttered to himself.
Link looked back to the stream and pulled off his tunic, rolling the legs of his trousers up and kicking his shoes off. He may as well take a dip. The cold mountain water was just warm enough for him to wade out into the middle and he sifted through the streambed until he found a good handful of skipping stones.
This was something he used to do with Zelda, when they were children. He remembered the time when he and his village friends had gone down to the lake near the castle gardens. They swam all day and feasted on fruit stolen from the garden's fruit trees. The sticky juice was so sour that Loeli's face twisted dramatically, making them all burst into a fit of hoots and laughter.
That was also the day when the princess was taking an escorted walk through the gardens. Link had started a game of hide and seek within the orchard after their bellies were filled to the brim and by chance had bumped into the princess by accident.
The escort reacted with lightning speed, seizing Link by the arms and the princess was frozen in shock. He grinned stupidly, and to the surprise of everyone, the princess began to giggle. It was known that even a smile was a rare sight on the princess's beautiful face and yet here she was giggling at him.
"Let him go, please, gentlemen." Her voice was heavenly and it sang like Link's Ocarina on a sunny day. She then turned to him and gestured for him to come forward. He obliged. "What is your name?"
"Link, your highness," he answered with a bowed head. Link's cheeks felt hot, like he had been running for miles. When he finally looked to meet her gaze, she had already begun to walk towards the lake. After a time, she leant down and picked up a stone and threw it unceremoniously into the water. The splash was impressive, but she looked disappointed at the outcome.
"How do you make the stones bounce across the water, Link?" Then she added sweetly with a pout, "Would you care to teach me?"
That was the day they first met and the beginning of a bonded friendship. But this day, she was leaving him as a lonely man.
From the safety of a high up branch on the Elm tree, the Fairy stole a peek at the elf who pulled her out of the water. He wasn't like the ones that had chased her on the mountain. His face was soft and she saw that his heart was heavy with a sadness she did not understand.
She flickered her wings in confusion and had to blink a few times to snap herself out of staring wide-eyed at the elf. He turned around then and she ducked behind a cluster of leaves. After a few minutes, she glanced up again but he had vanished. Then the sound of splashing alerted her to the running stream. He was knee-deep in the stream, throwing stones along the current so that they hopped along the water's surface.
There seemed to be something else about him that she couldn't quite grasp and she flitted back down to the bush at the base of the tree silently. Maybe it was the distinctive essence of magic that trailed behind him but there was definitely a strong aura about him that brightened and dulled at random intervals.
She hadn't noticed until she was hovering just behind some river reeds that she had moved from her hiding place and closer to the elf. She shook her head and jumped back as a dragonfly zoomed close enough for her to touch. She had to muffle a scream by covering her mouth before she checked to see if the elf had noticed. Breathing a sigh of relief when he hadn't, she continued to watch him from behind the reeds.
Link looked up into the sky, already regretting going into the water and let out a sustained breath. He checked how far the sun had crossed and nodded to himself that by the time he reached Hikko's again after drying off, an hour will have passed. He waded back to the bank and sat down on the grass that ran to the very edge, which was lucky since Link had the worst history when it came to mud.
His skin drew in warmth from the rays of the sun, the blades of grass tickling his legs and making him itchy. A dragonfly darted by him, inquisitively poking in and out of the river reeds.
Link frowned, a feeling of uneasiness catching at his conscience and he looked around the stream. There was nothing, so he shrugged it off and reached for his scabbard. The sun wasn't quite warm enough to dry him quickly so he made good use of the time. Even though he never used it, Link always kept his sword in prime condition. After all, what had he gone through that his sword hadn't?
He fetched a small whet stone from one of his trouser pockets and firstly began to stroke the stone along one side of the blade, and then the other. It was calming for him, the steady motion back and forth.
When he finally felt dry enough to roll his trouser legs back down, he grabbed his tunic and pulled it on. Finally he refastened his belt with the scabbard and sheathed the sword, satisfied that it was in top shape. With an indifferent expression, he started back along the road to Hikko's.
He was probably still another ten minutes from the furnace when he noticed a stillness in the forest on the far side of the fields. What brought his attention to it was that there were no birds singing and for a moment he swore he saw a thin whisper of smoke drift up from the high branches. Link paused for a moment and then laughed at how serious and suspicious had just became over nothing. Of course he couldn't hear the birds, the wind was blowing away from him towards the forest.
The door to Hikko's house was wide open and the air above it was rippling from the extreme heat, making Link a little cautious to enter. He could hear Hikko working away on another project, the sound of scraping and resonating crashes meant that it was something big. Before Link reached the door to the furnace, he notice a fine silver chain interwoven with golden vines laid out preciously on the table in the main room. He figured Hikko knew exactly what Link wanted to do with it as there was a shaped clasp where the star crystal would fit perfectly.
Link smiled at how Hikko was always so cranky and blunt on the outside, but knew from all of the little things he did for people that he cared for each and every one of the villagers. He pocketed the chain and went home to get the star crystal.
As he was walking, he had to brush his neck a few times as the sensation he felt back on the banks of the stream returned. At one point he spun around, expecting to see something, but again nothing was there.
She was getting way too curious for herself. She knew she was going to end up in some terrible situation again. The fear was still there but it was more like serious worrying compared to absolute terror.
The fairy dwindled just behind the elf the whole way to a huge stone building. Smoke billowed out of a hole in the roof and the sheer heat that radiated from it was enough to dry out her wings. From a safe and secure distance, the fairy observed the elf go into the building and settled down in a bed of wildflowers. Their rugged aromas were subtle and just a smidge spicy.
For the moment she nearly forgot about the big people in the forest until she heard loud crashing sounds escaping with the smoke. She startled at the slightest sounds from then on, whirling her careful gaze over every nook and cranny. She wasn't always this bad. Well, there was the fox incident, but otherwise she was still not as highly strung as some of the fairies she knew.
When the elf stepped back into the sunshine, a layer of sweat across his brow, she skipped across the wildflowers and then flew straight up a thick tree to watch him from behind its foliage. She guessed that it would be safe enough to follow him, but she wasn't ready to just introduce herself. Then again, he saved her from the spider's web and he hadn't tried to capture her like the others did. Maybe he was a good person, but she had to find out first.
Link was sitting at a large wooden stump he and one of his villager friends had fashioned into a table a few years ago. There was a bowl filled with fruit and nuts as well as the star crystal and its chain. He sat there for a long time, chewing on a piece of dried fruit before he picked up the two items and made his first attempt to connect them together.
After a cringing attack on pushing the star crystal into the clasp, he tried twisting it in but to avail. He swapped hands and even used his teeth, grunting and swearing at the star in frustration before throwing it down onto the table where it clattered to the floor. He gasped wide-eyed and crouched down to pick it up, worry quickly replacing his frustrated rampage.
He placed it down next to the somehow tangled chain and went to the window by his bed. The day was turning out to be beautiful indeed and patches of sky were dotted by light clouds all the way over the horizon. There didn't seem like a reason for him to smile though, and he moved back to the table to stare at the intricate detail of the gold vine that swerved in and out of the silver links of the chain like a true creeper. Hikko had taken great care to make this and when he peered closer, Link was taken aback at exactly how much effort he had gone to make this.
The vine itself wasn't made up of one singular thread of gold, as he had imagined and he smacked his forehead for doing so. The vine was actually made up of many pieces, like the chain, but they were fitted perfectly together so that it was almost like snakeskin.
Link smiled and whispered into the air, "If only you were able to attach the star for me as well, Old Man."
He then turned around in his seat and grabbed a handful of chestnuts, leaning back on the table with his elbows. Link hadn't even swallowed the first mouthful of nuts when a sparkling light shone from behind him. He turned his head slightly and nearly fell off his chair when he saw that the star crystal was shining brightly. Suddenly, the light grew brighter and he watched as the crystal and chain rose slowly into the air, floating in front of him. His jaw had dropped and his expression was that of a dumbfounded fool. He had seen many things but that was by the hands of wizards and other magic users, not by inanimate objects. With a sharp click, they came together and then lowered back down to the table as a single perfect piece. Link was awestruck.
A sprightly giggle sounded from outside his window and he rushed over to investigate. For a short while he didn't see anything, but then he spotted tiny wings behind one of the nocturnal flowers.
"Hello?" he ventured. "There's nothing to be afraid of, come out from there."
Nothing happened, but he knew that it was the fairy he had picked out of the stream this morning. He recognised the way she flicked her lacewings every now and again and brought a piece of fruit over to the window sill for the fairy.
"What's your name? You must be hungry, I have some fruit for you and I'll leave it right here if you want it." Then he added, "Thank you for fixing the necklace," and walked back to the table.
The fairy stepped onto the window sill as soon as he turned around and looked from him to the fruit and back to him, "My name is Neia."
Link turned to face her, a slight smile on his angular face and knelt down so that she was at eye level with him. He watched as Neia floated closer to him and he reached out his hand to her. She considered it for a moment and then gracefully landed upon it lightly.
"My name is Link."
Neia curtsied and smiled meekly, "I-it's very nice to meet you, Link." Her voice was so high and tiny that Link imagined her to be a two year old child, but she looked to be only just younger then he was. She wore a little dress made from interwoven silk that shone a pure white then tapered down to a sky blue. Her hair was short, dark and very glossy and her eyes matched the blue of her dress.
Neia stood up then and spread her wings, gliding up to hover just in front of Link's nose. She leant forward and lightly kissed him on the tip of his nose. It felt like the first snowflake that fell in winter, or the tickle of butterfly wings in spring. When she moved backwards just a little, Link noticed that she was glowing with a brilliant while neon effect and upon looking at his hands, saw that he was as well.
"What's going on?" he stammered.
"It is something that almost never happens," she said, as though he was far away. Her shyness seemed to have been forgotten in the amazing spectacle. "It is the flaring of two souls bonded together. Link, I am your fairy now."
Please be patient everyone, I'm not the fastest writer but I'll get the second chapter up asap. Thanks for reading-please review.