Chapter 1

Wings and Things

"Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so."

-Bertrand Russell

Navi was a blue fairy, and she was really cute. She was blue with... long blue hair and a white dress. She flew to the big tree and looked at me. She nodded.

"Hi! I'm Navi. You must be the new fairy!"

I nodded uneasily.

"Great Deku Tree, he's the one?" she asked.

"Yes, Navi. Take him to the empty house."

I looked at my wings again and tried to move them, but again they ignored my commands. I knew full well they wouldn't listen, that time I just did it because I was curious. They were much too small to be of use to me. They seemed, however, to be growing.

"How do you intend... where did she go?" I asked. Navi vanished.

Next thing I knew I was in the air. I thought I was using my wings but then I looked behind me and saw Navi dragging me through the air to an empty house.

We landed on a bed inside of the house. It felt weird, looking at everything bigger than you. Navi sat down.
"It's late, we'll talk a little tomorrow morning. Your wings will probably be developed enough to fly by tomorrow early afternoon, if not sooner."

I nodded, and Navi laid down on the bed. I got some distance and lay back myself.

Two hours later, I still wasn't asleep. I'd fallen asleep for a few minutes, but woke right back up. I dreamt that all this was a dream, and that I woke up with those two gang members and that gun in my face. I was afraid to sleep, and I missed my family.

My family...

It's surely been at least some time before I was declared dead. Surely my family found out about what happened by now. I died on my birthday.

My eyes started to burn, and I felt myself flashing back to my last... my last minutes. I wondered what would have happened had I not worn the bandana around that cut, had I been careful and not cut my arm on the fence. Would I have gone to the store, maybe bought myself something? Would I have made it back home for my party?

I sat up and walked to the edge of the bed. I sat with my legs hanging over the side, and sobbed silently.

As my tears fell to the ground that seemed thousands of feet below me, they sparkled. They sparkled from the time they started to fall to the time they hit the floor. Then they sat, sparkling, for a moment or two before fading out.

My breath began to stagger and I sobbed as quiet as possible.

I was deep in thought. Although I was the one who died, it felt like everyone else died and I was the one alive. Navi sat down beside me and put her arm around my shoulders.
"Hey... hey..."

I don't know whether it was the fact that I was crying or the fact that someone caught me crying that made me cry harder.

"Aw, I know... I know you're sad. It's going to be okay, though. This place is just as pretty- if not prettier than the land you came from."

She gently rubbed my shoulder as I tried desperately to stop crying. I was actually tired now. I shed some tears, then I get tired.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay... there, there..."

My crying slowed down. I pretended that this wasn't happening. I told myself I was going to wake up in my bedroom and not be on a giant bed.

"I just need to show you the forest. It loves you, if that makes sense," she said.

Oh, great. So now I'm some dead, puny little thing with wings, sobbing on a giant bed in a forest that appearantly holds feelings for me.

"Are you okay?" she asked, letting me go. She stood up and I nodded, wiping my face.

"Why do they twinkle?" I asked. Navi tilted her head.

"What do you mean?" She asked. I stood up and looked over the edge of the bed.
"Tears. Why do they twinkle?"

Navi smiled. "Fairies carry a lot of magic in their small bodies. Some magic surges into a fairy's tears, making them sparkle and fall to the ground slowly. In fact, if a human drank enough of our tears, they could restore good health and boost stamina."

I looked back down, but the sparkling had long since stopped.

"The magic won't sit in the tears forever. Unless they pool together in a bottle or something, the magic will eventually wear out and leave normal tears behind. But enough talk about that stuff, are you going to be okay?"

I nodded. "Yes, I just miss my family. This is too much to take in."

She rubbed my shoulder again. "I know, but it'll be alright. I promise. In the mean time, let's get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow!"

I shut my eyes, and this time I really did fall asleep. This time I dreamt of flying, moving around, and having a good time...

It was a good dream, but Navi woke me up early. The sun looked like it just rose, and she shook me awake.

"Good morning sunshine! And good morning to you, too Jack!" She giggled.

I smiled and rubbed my eyes.

"Good morning Navi."

She put a finger to my lips. "No! Good morning to the sunshine first!" she said. I smiled. "Okay, good morning, sunshine! Good morning, Navi," I said. She stood up and beckoned for me to do the same. I did, and she smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Your wings... they've fully developed!"

I looked at my back and my wings were much larger. I had to roll my eyes upward to see the tips. I tried to move my wings and this time they listened. I continued moving them around and they continued to obey my commands.

Navi clapped. "Good! Good!"

I stopped moving them and looked at Navi. "Now what?"

"Now we teach you how to fly!" she said.

I nodded. "Okay. How do we..."

I trailed off when Navi beckoned me to come to the end of the bed. I obeyed, and she pointed down.

"For you, it may look like a far drop, but a fairy can fall from great heights and not be hurt. This isn't a problem. What you do is flap your wings in a rhythm. They will support you, but if you flap them too quick and too much, you'll not only get tired, but they won't support you efficiently."
I must have looked uncertain, because Navi offered to show me how to do it first. I said 'okay' and she jumped off the bed and began flapping in a steady fashion. She began flying and before I knew it she was on a beam on the ceiling. She waved down at me, but I couldn't see her face. It was too dark on the ceiling. "Now you try!" she called.

I looked down at the floor uncertainly and jumped, flapping my wings quickly at first, but then remembering what she said and slowing them to a steady rhythm. I went from descending (rather slowly, suprisingly) to gradually gaining altitude. I began flying upward toward Navi, although my flying technique was pretty sloppy. I was zag-zigging (yeah, I flipped that) and coming toward her all wobbly, like a fly. I reached the beam she was on and she clapped. "Good job! With practice your flying will be perfect!"

I smiled. "Now let's try from here," she said.
I stopped smiling and nodded, determined to learn how to fly in a way that was decent.

She decided to show me how to do it again once more, and leapt from the beam, flying in fancy curves this way and that. I jumped and flapped steadily, but one of my wings twitched as I began to curve so I didn't hit the ground. I ended up in a death-spiral and I hit the floor, but because I was no more than 4 feet above the ground, it didn't hurt so much. I fell slowly, anyway. When I landed, I looked at my wings and tested them again. I flew up and my wing twitched once more. Navi frowned when she saw it happen again, but this time I made it to the top.

"Uh oh..." she said. I didn't like that.

"What happened?" I asked. She was standing behind me staring at my wing, tapping it gently at first, then harder to see if it would respond. It twitched, and she sighed. "This wing didn't develop right."

I sighed. "How bad is that?"

"Not awful or anything. This type of thing happens fairly often. Your wing has a twitch. Every so often it will just... twitch. You'll lose altitude, or maybe you won't. It's not a big deal, but it can be kind of annoying sometimes. It might wear off for you, who knows?"

I smiled. "It won't happen every time, don't worry," she said.

Before I could say anything else, we were practicing some more, and by mid afternoon I wasn't flying so badly anymore. We took a break then, wondering what to do next. I started wondering what would happen if I encountered a bird. I asked Navi, and she giggled.

"If you don't bother them, they won't bother you... usually," she said. After several minutes of sitting in the house, we left. Navi wanted to show me the forest. We flew around the forest, Navi pointing out buildings and who owned them. We flew past one house and some little kid dressed in green with another fairy glared at us. Navi addressed him as "Mido", and we continued. We passed another house, which Navi said belonged to "Saria", and we passed another house. This is the one I remember best:

From this big tree house, you could see a boy doing nothing. He just... sat in his house. It was beautiful out, too! I asked Navi.

"Why is he just sitting inside? Is he sick?"
She shook her head. "He doesn't have a fairy, and some of the others make fun of him for it, mainly Mido. Saria is his friend, but he tends to keep to himself. Poor thing, he needs someone..." she said. He looked up and noticed us, and Navi smiled and waved. "That's Link. I have no doubt that he has a big future ahead of him! Hi Link!"

Navi is disturbingly cheery sometimes. I wonder if there are any surley fairies out there? I can't help but wonder about that. Link waved, but he didn't smile back. I guess he couldn't see Navi's friendly smile, or he wasn't the smiling type. We continued on, and Navi stopped here and there to let me give my wing a break when it started to twitch. I apologised each time we had to stop, but Navi kept smiling and telling me I had nothing to apologise for.

We stopped in these woods Navi referred to as the "Lost Woods". She explained to me that the woods hold a lot of treasures and goods, but one has to be able to "listen to the soul of the forest" to navigate, or he or she would end up in the Kokiri Forest again. Now my hearing is very good, but... I didn't hear anything.

"So... what now?" I asked. Navi smiled.

"You've surely got some questions about your form."
I nodded. "Yes, why didn't anyone respond to me when I waved at them except for Link?"

Navi smiled. "Fairies are made almost entirely of magic; so much so that a fairy body gives off a brilliant light. Only fairies can see each other's bodies, but humans have to get close and squint, or they only see a ball of light with wings."

"So they didn't respond because they didn't see me?"

She nodded. Damn. This light is hiding my natural good looks!

"Are there exceptions?" I asked. She smiled. "Some people can see their fairy partners if they grow close enough or have a strong and kind soul."

I asked her to tell me anything I may want to know, and she began.

"Fairies come in many colors. Most fairies are white. White fairies are fairies well balanced in all areas. Color determines what a fairy is strong in. Blue fairies are mostly loving and kind, Yellow fairies are strong and have more magic than usual, Green fairies such as yourself are smart and courageous, Purple fairies are mischevious, and Pink fairies specialize in healing properties."

"Do fairies eat or drink?" I asked then. I just realized I had nothing to eat since before I arrived. Navi smiled. "We do, just not so often. One meal per every few days keeps you going for a while, but let me know if your belly growls, okay?"

I mentally frowned, considering my last meal consisted of a Snickers bar followed by half a carton of french fries from McDonald's. What a thing to go out with. "Do you have any last requests?" "Nah, I had a Snickers bar and some fries. I'm good to go."

Navi grinned at me, seeing that I was deep in thought. "Any more questions about your form?"

I shook my head.
Navi nodded, and smiled sweetly to replace her toothy grin. "Do you want to talk about anything, just between us?"

I smiled. "Sure."
"Let's play crossfire!" said Navi. I stared blankly. "What's that?"

Navi began to explain. "I ask one question, you answer and ask me one! They can be about anything."

I nodded. "Okay. Ask!"

She thought for a moment, then asked me her question.

"How old are you?" she asked.

Technically, I'm 1 day old, but I would have been 18 if I'd lived until 2:12 in the afternoon. That's the time I was born.

"I would have been 18 if I'd survived my last day," I said calmly. Before Navi could react, I asked her.

"How old are you?" I asked. She smiled. "I'm 19." Before I could respond, it was her turn.

"What happened to... you?" She asked, no longer smiling. I sighed. "You don't have to answer..."
"No, no... it would be good to tell someone," I said. I leaned back against the rock we both sat by.

"I was killed by gang violence. It was my birthday, and I cut my arm on this rusty fence we have. We have two big gangs: The Bloods and the Crips. The Bloods wear a lot of red and hate people who wear blue, because Crips wear blue. It's vise versa for the Crips. I didn't have anything else to dress my wound with, so without thinking I used this blue bandana for it. Then I went out and was killed by a Blood."

Navi had her blue hands over her mouth, and her eyes bore a look of horror and concern. I smiled mournfully to show her that it was okay, and I asked her a question.

"What happened to you, if it's okay to ask?" I asked. Navi pulled her hands from her face.

"I was killed during a war with another country. The other country invaded ours and killed some civilians, myself included."

"I'm sorry."

She smiled. "It's over now. It happened a while ago, and I've been reunited with some of my family. I'm sad they left the others, but happy I can see them now."

I waited for another question. Sure enough:
"What did you like to do?"
"I played some instruments."
Her eyes widened. "Cool! What did you play?" I guess Crossfire was over.
"Piano, guitar, and harmonica."
"Did you play in a group?"
I smirked. "Our group was called 'The Fallen Angels'"
Navi frowned. "Why?" I guess she didn't like that idea.

"Not a clue. Plus my band mates used to get so high they'd think they really were Angels."
She pouted at me. "You did drugs?" she asked.

"No, I got kicked out for not doing them! They tried to make me do something, but one of my friends did drugs and OD'd one of his first times. He's lucky to be alive. I took that as a message and never did anything."

Her pout vanished. "So you didn't do that stuff?"
I nodded. "I stay away from that. They kicked me out for being sober."

She smiled, and suddenly remembered the game. "Now you ask a question!"
"What did you used to like to do?"

She grinned. "Anything! I was always outside with my friends playing games and running. They always thought I behaved like a child."
I chucked softly.
"What did you play?"
"We played everything. Sometimes I'd show up and the band would be sitting around throwing cookies or something at each other."

She giggled.

"Did you play any instruments?" I asked.

She nodded. "I can play the flute."

I smiled. "How long have you been playing your instruments?" she asked.

"Piano since I was 4, guitar when I turned 9, and I just picked up harmonica."

We continued asking each other questions for a small eternity. There was a lot to say. Eventually Navi flew above the woods to see the sky, and it was getting late. She came back down and got me. "Tomorrow we see the Great Deku tree, because he has a big assignment for me that I can't miss," she said. I nodded, and we headed toward the house we stayed in the night prior.

End of Chapter

Maybe I should change the rating. Don't do drugs!