Disclaimer: The rights to Mai HiME and The Legend of Zelda rightfully belong to Sunrise and Nintendo, respectively. I own rights to nothing.

Note: Well, it's been a while. I'm sorry about the terribly long wait. I'm a bit tangled up with The Great Gatsby and deciphering its symbolic secrets which poses as a bit of a problem, considering I'm no good at dissecting anything. I'll make sure to update a little faster, however. Make sure to leave a review before you leave! :)


After long, long hours of riding Duran through the trees, Natsuki and Tate had finally come across something of interest.

The concrete path disappeared to reveal a large field of healthy grass and, farther ahead, a castle with sharp towers and grey, thick walls. Surrounding this castle were high barriers made of slab with a wooden portcullis as its only entrance. Which was, in fact, open for all to enter.

"That must be the Faceless Prince's castle!" cried Tate. "We finally made it!"

Natsuki felt her heart swell with excitement. At least she was able to find the castle. This was good progress.

She urged Duran to dash forward and he did so, having the wind bat against Natsuki's ears. Once they made it to the open portcullis, Natsuki dismounted Duran and smoothed out her tunic before patting him on the flank, making him whinny in appreciation. Natsuki stepped onto the portcullis, but soon paused, as if realising something.

"What is it?" asked Tate hesitantly. Natsuki looked ahead to see that this portcullis led to a small town, bustling with activity. This didn't come as a surprise to her but it was just the way the people carried themselves that had her stop for a second.

Certainly, they all had clothes that was laced in gold and dyed in the most exotic of colours, but there was also the fact that some of the women wore pants. In the public.

How bizarre.

Natsuki slowly strolled in and looked around. Many of the people there were too busy to notice her come in. Many men and women were running their own shops, asking for attention as the passers-by rushed to their destinations.

Natsuki watched all of this unfold, her eyes searching. She slowly followed the crowd to the centre of the little town where a fountain stood. The centre led off into four different cobblestoned directions, including where she'd just come from. Another one of these directions led towards the castle of none other than the Faceless Prince.

Natsuki couldn't go; the doors were being guarded. No matter; least likely the prince was kidnapped and held captive in his own castle. Currently, her duty did not lie there.

"We should ask around about the Master Sword," said Tate. "The sooner we find it, the closer we are to finding that prince."

Natsuki nodded and, for half the day, she asked around.

Many people didn't know much about the Master Sword. Their answers were usually, "I know nothing at all," or "No, but would you care to buy my so and so product?" One joker said that he'd be delighted to show his Master Sword, which resulted in him getting a free kiss from Natsuki's splintered shield.

The day had been gruelling, so Natsuki decided to finally go rest in the inn down by the southern exit.

The innkeeper was a tall woman with red hair and green eyes which flashed with life upon seeing Natsuki.

"Are you here to stay?" asked the girl as she straightened up. Natsuki took out her bag containing all her twenty-five rupees that she'd snatched from her father's room and emptied it out onto the counter.

"Yes," said Natsuki. "For one night."

The innkeeper scanned the rupees before staring Natsuki in the eye and saying, "That will be twenty-six rupees."

Natsuki paused.

"W-what?"

"I said that will be twenty-six rupees," said the innkeeper.

"I only have twenty-five," said Natsuki. "And since when… I mean… that doesn't sound right."

"Well, it's twenty-six," said the lady with a shrug of her shoulders. "Nothing I can do about it. Unless…"

Natsuki watched as the girl's eyes narrowed seductively.

"You have to do me a big favour," the woman said in a sing-song voice.

"What is it?"

"Promise me you'll do it."

"I'm not promising anything until I know what it is," Natsuki barked, feeling her patience slip away at an alarming rate.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you," said the woman as she leaned back in her chair and folded her hands behind her head. "Deliver that thing to Yohko, the nurse up north."

The woman pointed to a box at the end of her desk.

"Why don't you do it yourself?" asked Natsuki as she slid the box off the desk and hefted it up in her thin arms.

"Too lazy," whined the woman as she yawned. "Now go and take it to Yohko."

"What's in this anyway?" Natsuki questioned, hefting the box out the door.

"Ask no questions and I shall tell you no lies," said the innkeeper with a cattish smile on her face. "Bye-bye!"

Natsuki stumbled out of the door of the inn and jogged up north, where she thought she saw the infirmary earlier. Once Natsuki reached that infirmary, she was assaulted by the smell of narcotics and potions.

"What's that smell?" spat Tate. Natsuki swallowed her disgust and knocked on the door. She could only imagine how horrid the smell was on the inside.

When the door opened, she nearly passed out. The smell was so strong that tears sprang up in her eyes.

However, a fair woman stood by the door, wearing a lab coat and a blue dress. Inside of the infirmary were rows of men who seemed to be living their final moments in the beds they laid in, most of them losing an arm or a leg. Some of them had their heads and torsos so wrapped up that they resembled mummies.

"Who might you be?" asked the woman Natsuki presumed was Yohko.

"Kuga," said Natsuki. "My name is Kuga Natsuki. The… the innkeeper wanted me to give you this…"

"Oh, the potions I wanted," she said as she took the burden off of Natsuki's thin arms. She stared at her for a second before saying, "The innkeeper, you say?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Natsuki.

"Oh." The dark-haired woman smiled a bit. "That's quite nice of you. Thank you. But you do know it was her job to bring it over here."

"We know that," Tate grumbled from the inside of Natsuki's tunic.

"Yeah, but I was low on rupees," Natsuki informed. "I only had twenty-five."

"But isn't that the price of getting a room?" asked the nurse with a raised brow. Natsuki suddenly felt the skin between her eyebrows pinch.

"Are you saying that I was gypped?"

"Possibly, Miss…?"

"Natsuki," she answered, slightly dazed.

"Thank you, then, Natsuki," said Yohko as she slowly shut her door with her free hand. "Good night and… sorry, again."

With that, Yohko shut the door.

"You lied," spat Natsuki once she reached the inn again.

"Oh, Yohko told you?" asked the innkeeper whose name was Midori.

"Y-you suck," snarled Natsuki, her anger clouding her mind. "Why did you trick me?"

"Like I said, I was too lazy."

"That's not a good enough reason!"

"You'll wake up the whole town with your yelling, you know," said Midori, checking out her split-ends. Natsuki's fingers played with the hilt of her sword. "You should probably pay up now. No need to cry over spilt milk, huh?"

Natsuki bared her teeth and slowly took out her wallet. She emptied it out onto the counter and Midori slid the rupees into the pocket of her apron.

"Thank you!" said Midori. "Please enjoy your stay."

"Oh, shut up," growled Natsuki as she was given the keys to her room and headed upstairs.

"Wait, wait," said Tate as he pulled on one of Natsuki's pointed ears. He fluttered over to Midori and asked, "Do you know anything about the Master Sword?"

"Like she'd know anything about that," said Natsuki with a sneer. "Come on, Tatl, you're wasting your time."

"It's 'Tate'!"

Natsuki never knew why she kept forgetting his name.

"Well," said Midori, "I might know something…"

Natsuki perked up.

"But what would Iknow?" said Midori, eyeing Natsuki. "I'm just wasting your time. You can go to your room."

"W-wait a minute!" shouted Natsuki as she scurried over to Midori's counter. "I didn't mean that! I was just kidding around! What do you know about the Master Sword?"

Midori stared at her for a second. For the first time Natsuki had met her, she actually looked solemn.

"A professor of mine," she began, "used to look up ancient relics. He was an archaeologist. One day, he tried to look for the Master Sword in the forest down by the east. He never came back."

There was a pause full of tension as Natsuki stared back at Midori's sombre eyes.

"Well… uh… do you think it's there?" asked Natsuki, not wanting to drag on this moment of awkward silence any longer.

"Of course," replied Midori. "The professor was never wrong about these things. I'm ninety-nine percent sure."

Natsuki didn't ask about the missing one percent.

"I hope you're not thinking of going," said Midori as she leaned over the counter. "Do you have any idea what crazy shit happens in that forest?"

"I'll take my chances," said Natsuki. She had to find that Master Sword in order to get things moving. She'd die without a cause if she didn't.

"Oh." Midori leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "You'll die, you know. Bandits, monsters, you name it. Everything bad lives in that forest."

"Bandits?" repeated Tate. "Do you think the King of Bandits lives in that forest?"

"Don't ask me," said Midori. "For all I know, he could be on Mars. No one knows where that guy is except the bandits themselves."

Midori's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You could die if you step into that forest," said Midori. "I'm just warning you. If you value your life, you probably shouldn't go."

Natsuki nodded and headed up to her room.

Despite her stone face of determination, she knew that she had quite a bit of thinking to do.


"I don't think she's coming," yawned Nao as she picked at her broken nails. She swore once one of her nails was torn down to the cuticle. "Can't we just go home?"

"Miss Yuuki, you seem to have forgotten," said the Assassin, perched in the highest of trees, her beautiful weapon resting on her lap. "Our young Hero of Time seeks the Master Sword and the Master Sword rests in this forest, yes?"

"Well… yeah, but I don't think she knows that," said Nao.

"She knows," said the Assassin. "I know she is coming."

Nao rolled her eyes. Of course the Obsidian Lord had to stick her with the psycho-crazy killer with a just as psycho and just as crazy weapon that could tear any living being apart. It was so typical of him.

Fujino only caused problems and practically every bandit knew it. Sure, she was respected, but that didn't mean she wasn't feared. The only reason she was so popular was because of her bloody history of murders. That bitch was damn near unstoppable. Whoever this Hero of Time was, she was going to get sliced, no doubt about it.

Angrily, Nao fell back and curled up on the moist soil, still picking at her torn nails. She hated the wild. It ruined her manicures.

And she hated Fujino. She tended to ruin a lot of other things.

Like my life,Yuuki thought to herself, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Even if she did know," Nao went on, deciding to steer her thoughts in a different direction, "she wouldn't come at this hour."

"You never know, Miss Yuuki," said Fujino Shizuru. "The Hero of Time is full of pleasant surprises."

"She only killed one of our weakest bandits," said Nao, tired of how Fujino praised this Kuga Natsuki. "By accident, too. She's not that great."

Fujino was silent for a couple of moments. She didn't have to answer that, after all. She knew that Natsuki was deemed the Hero of Time for a reason. That meant that she was strong and probably a harder kill to kill. She would pose as a challenge and no one liked challenges as much as Fujino herself.

She could practically feel herself shaking with the anticipation. However, her face of composure was dominant.

So, Shizuru waited.


When morning arrived, Natsuki was quick to leave the inn, making sure to try and avoid the annoying innkeeper. However, to no avail. She had been seen trying to slip out the front door.

"Going off on your suicide mission?" asked Midori as she took a bite from her pomegranate.

"I'll live," Natsuki said, trying to sound determined.

"You never know," replied Midori as she picked at some grapes.

Natsuki made a face and turned to walk away.

"Ah, by the way," said Midori, fondling with an apple in her pocket. Why did she have so many fruits on her, anyway? "Take this."

Natsuki was thrown a bottle of fizzy, green liquid. After a long pause, Natsuki looked up at Midori, her eyebrow arched.

"It's a potion," said Midori, taking a bite out of a peach. Natsuki shivered upon seeing this and turned away.

"You're saying that you're giving her witchcraft?" asked Tate, his voice accusing.

"Witchcraft?" asked Midori. "Hey, I know a lot of nice witches around the area. Don't be so racist."

"Come on, Natsuki, let's go," said Tate as he flew out the door. Natsuki shot Midori a look before slipping out the door.

Once they reached the eastern gate, Natsuki hopped onto Duran and rode him towards the forest. Once they reached the forest, however, they had to stop. Natsuki decided to search for the Master Sword on foot. She didn't know what she'd end up running into in the forest.

"Stay here, Duran," said Natsuki. Duran whinnied agitatedly and stomped a bit, but he stayed still. Natsuki made sure to praise him for his obedience and patted his flank.

So, Natsuki and Tate roamed the forest alone.

It took many days and many nights before they came across anything particularly interesting.

On the seventh day of her journey, Natsuki came across a large assortment of big, orange flowers on the ground. Natsuki looked around, surprised by this sudden change in setting. For days, all she had seen were bushes, grass, bark, and leaves. A lot of green and brown, basically.

The orange was a pleasant change. Natsuki stepped into the field—

A yell cut through the air.

"Deku shrubs, attack!"

Natsuki was, to say the least, stunned.

Suddenly, the shrubs rose from the ground to reveal the brown faces and bright eyes belonging to bizarre creatures. They had nozzles, which further confused Natsuki.

Everything went by too fast. All at once, she was attacked by a barrage of flying nuts that came at her with full speed. She went falling back, holding her nose that was draining itself like a defective faucet. She nearly passed out, but her anger kept her eyes wide open. She unsheathed her sword and swung it in the air, accidentally deflecting one of the flying nuts. It went straight back into the nozzles of one of the self-proclaimed Deku Shrubs and it choked. The shrubs panicked and sank back into the ground, leaving their companion to die.

Natsuki slowly walked up to the Deku Shrub and swiftly knocked it in the back of its little body, causing the nut to go flying out of its nozzle. Before it could escape, Natsuki grabbed it by its orange leafs and growled, "You're not going anywhere."

"Please, do not hurt me!" it cried pitiful, tears sparkling in its big, orange eyes. "We Deku Shrubs are very protective of our land, you must understand—"

Natsuki had her sword aimed at its sensitive nozzle. She could feel blood pooling into her mouth and her head felt like it was ready to blow up. She refused to suffer in vain.

"Where is the Master Sword?" she asked through gritted teeth.

The Deku Shrub was quick to answer.

"I-I don't know—"

"Don't lie to me!" she spat as she shook the Deku Shrub all around. "You're guarding it! Where is it?"

It whimpered.

"I was never told where it was," it said. "A Deku Shrub never lies!"

Natsuki wrinkled her nose and turned to Tate who was still trying to recover from the sudden Deku attack.

"Search his home," Natsuki ordered. Tate slowly nodded and fluttered into the Deku Shrubs flower. After half a minute, he was hauling out a compass and some rolled up parchment. Natsuki threw away the Deku Shrub and grabbed the compass. She analysed it and pocketed it before taking the parchment out of Tate's tiny hands and unrolled it.

A map.

They'd found a map.

Natsuki repressed the unbelievable need to jump up and shout "Eureka!" Finally, something she could use! This was exactly what she needed!

She chortled with glee and slipped it into the front of her blue tunic.

"It's about time we found a lead," said Tate as he hovered next to her ear. "We better get going. We shouldn't waste time."

Natsuki nodded with a smile and slid the map into her rucksack. She straightened up and shifted through the orange leaves of the flowers housing the Deku Shrubs before reaching the other end of the field.

For the first time in a while, Natsuki felt a piece to a complicated puzzle had been found.


Shizuru was bent on finding her. The girl, that is. Kuga Natsuki.

The name rolled off the tongue so smoothly.

"Natsuki," Shizuru whispered into the night air, her breath fogging her vision. It was very cold that night, but Shizuru was in no need of comfort. "Natsuki..."

"It's getting dark," said Nao, breaking Shizuru's concentration for the umpteenth time that day. "We really oughta go to sleep. I can't work properly without my eight hours of sleep."

Shizuru turned to Nao, a smile on her face.

"You wish to rest, you say?"

"Yeah, I'm—" Nao paused when she made eye contact with Shizuru. Perhaps she'd seen a ghost, perhaps she had suddenly had an epiphany. However, Nao quickly paled and mumbled something under her breath.

"Excuse me, Miss Yuuki?" said Shizuru. "I did not catch that."

"I-I said that I'm not that tired."

"That is good to hear, Miss Yuuki," Shizuru whispered as she turned to creep forward. Nao bared her teeth as she trailed behind the assassin.