"Come on, Link! We need to get to the swamp!" a small, yellow-colored fairy yelled, flying swiftly through the large field known as Termina Field. A young, blond-haired boy was following her, running as fast as his small legs could carry him.
"I'm moving as fast as I can, Tatl!" Link yelled back. "I'm just not as fast as you are. Remember, I can't fly."
"Excuses, excuses," Tatl said teasingly. After flying a few feet more, she came to an abrupt stop, hovering around a large tree just outside the swamp. Link skidded to a stop beside hegaveling her a questioning glance. She noticed his stare and laughed nervously. "I supposed you want an explanation?"
Link gave a sharp nod. "Yes, that would be nice."
"Alright. Well, you see the tree? The large one here?"
Link almost rolled his eyes, but caught himself in time. "Yes, I see the tree. What about it?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Well," Tatl began, "look here." She hovered over a spot near the bottom. On the bark was a poorly drawn sketch of a small imp and two fairies. Tatl's wings visibly quivered. "Skull Kid drew this to remember the fun times we had together. He-" The fairy was cut off by a loud, high-pitched scream.
"What in Din's name was that?" Link asked to no one in particular.
"It sounded like it came from the swamp," Tatl said casually. "Eh, nothing we can do about it now. A wolfo probably got eaten by a octorok or something. Happens all the time."
"RICO! Kowalski, get him out of there!" came a yell from the woods.
Link stared at Tatl, a smile growing on his face. "Well, I think I'm gonna check it out," the Hylian said, turning on his heals and running towards the source of the scream.
Tatl let out a yell of frustration and darted after him. "LINK! We have THREE DAYS! We can't waste those precious seventy two hours on stuff we can fix later!" she screeched.
"So? I just wanna see what the commotion was about," Link said, grinning cheekily. "Besides, it's just a little past six. We still have loads of time."
"Link. You're a complete idiot. Also, I hate you."
The boy and his fairy companion ran through the trees, eventually coming to a clearing. In front of them stood an old dock leading to a small building that was built above the water, a tiny boat underneath. Purple colored water was at their feet, the grass near the edge of the liquid brown and dead. Link grimaced. "I'm going to take a guess and say that the swamp is not supposed to be like this," the Hylian finally said. Tatl was silent. Link stared at the fairy. "Is something wrong, Tatl?"
"What are those?" Tatl questioned. Link looked in the direction that the fairy was staring at. He was surprised to see four black and white creatures standing near the water. One of them was being supported by the tallest of the four, his leg being held off the ground.
"Hmm, not sure. Why don't you go over and see?" Link suggested.
"Fine, I'll go," Tatl said with reluctance. "But only so I can say to everyone how much braver I was than you!" She quickly flew towards the creatures before the boy could object. She stopped when she was over the creatures' heads. "Hey! What and who are you?" she yelled, immediately attracting their attention.
The flat-headed creature jumped, looking above and staring at her. "BOYS!" he suddenly cried. "We've been spotted! Evasive maneuvers!" In a flash, the two smallest were gone, leaving the other two in the dust.
