A Terrible Fate

What seemed like an eternity passed as I painfully stumbled along after my stolen horse. Thankfully the sleepy forest received minimal foot traffic, and Epona's trail was fairly simple to follow. My legs, though battered and sliced beyond recognition, managed to carry me to a series of massive tree trunks. It was here where the clear trail ended, but I was not going to give up on Epona, or my ocarina. They were beyond priceless to me now. I just had to get them back!

Thinking I'd get a better view atop one of the tree trunks, I forced myself to clamber up the tallest one. Reaching the top and gasping for breath, with my entire body in agony, I observed my surroundings. Aside from the usual lethargy of the forested atmosphere, I managed to spot a cave where several horse tracks led to. The cave looked as if it was carved into a tree that stood a short distance away, it had to be their hideout! Thankfully it was much easier to climb down...er...fall down… than it was to struggle up the imposing trunk, but I made it. I crawled my way to the entrance, totally exhausted at this point. I had no idea what I was going to do in this state, I could barely move my arm let alone swing my sword! But, being the stubborn lad I was, I made my way into the cavern despite my injuries. The darkness of the cave enveloped me, I couldn't make out anything. I fumbled around the floor, forcing myself to plod forward, when suddenly I was falling!

Greeeaaaaat... I thought. So much effort and pain just to fall to my death. FANTASTIC!

I glanced down, trying to see the very bottom of the pit. This must have been an incredibly deep hole, as I had been falling seemingly for a few seconds. But my thoughts of doom were interrupted by a pinpoint of light below me. As I prepared myself for the crushing blow of the floor below, the tiny dot multiplied into many dots, and then those dots became pictures. I was suddenly falling through faces! Faces upon faces stared me down. Either due to this new development, or from overwhelming pain, my vision faded and I drifted into unconsciousness...

I had no notion of how much time had passed, but I was cast out of my comatose state by the feeling of a soft thud against a spongy substance. I opened my eyes slowly and saw that I was no longer falling through empty space. The padded flooring I had landed on was in fact a large, purple flower that had the faint scent of blueberries. I gently pulled myself to my feet, anticipating the return of the extreme pain. To my surprise I felt fine! I looked down at my body to realize I had been completely healed! Not only that, but my green-colored Kokiri tunic and white pants had been fully restored as well. Just when I began imagining that I was dead and in the afterlife, bright lights flooded the chamber, temporarily blinding me. I covered my eyes against the sudden brilliance and heard a voice. The same scratchy, childlike voice that I remember stealing...something... from me. I was still disoriented from the fall, and could barely remember a thing...

"Whew, what is with your stupid horse?! It wouldn't listen to a thing I said!" The voice taunted.

Suddenly, everything came flooding back to me! Epona! My Ocarina! The lights dimmed slightly and there, menacingly floating above the ground a few meters away, was the Skull Kid. The two fairies were with him, but where was Epona? I gazed around the grotto in desperation, but my mare was nowhere in sight. All that could be seen, aside from the thieves, was a tiny pond between us, and a few cave sketches carved into the walls. Other than that, it was an empty room.

"Where is she!" I growled.

"What? There's no need of a disobedient horse, so I did you a favor and got rid of her!"

I blinked in disbelief. Epona? Gone? I clenched my armored fists in rage.

"NOOOO!" I shouted. "You're going to regret ever meeting me!"

I drew my sword and shield , this creature was going to pay for what he had done! I was at full health now, so there was no way I would lose to him this time, he was cornered.

"Oooooo looks like we got a tough guy!" The Skull Kid proclaimed. "What do you fairies think?"

The fairies had no chance to respond, I darted forward, aiming to plunge my blade through the Skull Kid's mask. The child howled a malicious laugh, and suddenly my sword transformed into a large tulip and my shield shattered into a powdery cloud. Taken aback, I stumbled and tripped over myself, landing in the shallow water that separated me from the masked skull child.

"HA! You think you can take me as I am now? You think a big, strong man like you can stop me?" Skull Kid said in a threatening tone. "Well...we'll see about that!"

I quickly leapt to my feet, searching in the water for something I could use as a weapon. From the corner of my eye, I saw the strange, heart-shaped mask begin to emit a strange purple aura. I attempted to dodge aside, assuming he was about to throw some kind of magic bolt at me, but I couldn't move, my legs were paralyzed! The translucent purple aura had begun to surround me, and I feared that the worst was about to happen and I would be soon joining my ancestors.

The aura slowly closed in around me, encasing my body in its glow. Suddenly ice cold, ethereal tendrils surged from the aura and wrapped tightly around my body. The air thickened and I began to smell a pungently sweet odor as the ghostly tendrils writhed around my form. I felt an intense burning sensation, like something was boiling me from within! Tears of pain welled up inside my eyes as the fiery sensation swarmed over me, completely overtaking my body and mind. The ghostly stands pierced into my very being, and I felt them twisting and churning my spirit. I cried out in pain, but it was muffled by the dark energy. Just when I was about to give up the last of my ebbing consciousness, the pain stopped. The purple aura retreated and I fell to my knees, my lungs heaving and gasping for fresh air. I felt off...different….something was wrong with me!

"Heeheeheehee! Take that!" The imp giggled. "That'll teach you to threaten me!"

I once again began grasping around the shallow water looking for a stone, a fish, anything to throw at the Skull Kid while he laughed at me. My vision wobbled, but I managed to grasp a decent sized rock and got to my feet, throwing it straight for the heart-shaped mask. The rock smashed into the mask and the Skull Kid shrieked in pain.

"Yeeaarrrghhh! You'll pay for that!"

The ground suddenly began to shake, and losing my balance I fell back into the shallow water. I felt weak, off balance, and I could hardly stand! The Skull Kid nervously looked around.

"Uughh. You're lucky, I have more important things to deal with right now. I'll finish you off later! You'll be much easier to get rid of by then!"

He began retreating toward the sketched-upon wall, and it opened upward like a door. I rose to my feet and began chasing after him, when the white fairy attacked me. Momentarily distracted, I managed to push the offending fairy away and get back to my pursuit, when the door suddenly slammed shut! This shocked the fairy, and it thankfully stopped attacking me as it rushed over to the door.

"H-hey! Skull Kid wait up!" The tiny white fairy shouted. "Don't leave me behind!"

There was no answer and the female fairy twinkled in despair. I felt a twinge of pity for her, but only for a split-second. She was an accomplice to an atrocious act on top of aiding the Skull Kid in robbing me. I ignored her pleas for the Skull Kid to come back, gathering my wits and trying to figure out why I felt so strange. I knelt down next to the pond to splash some water on my face when I saw my reflection. My eyes looked more of an aqua color now instead of the pale blue I remembered, but that was all I could see that was different about me. I shrugged it off, thinking that the water had discolored the appearance of my eyes. I stood back up and looked to the now crying fairy.

She turned to face me and exclaimed that she was now separated from her brother, and how it was all my fault. I shot her an irritated glance and walked up to the door. I put my hands on it and began to push up. I had done this a million times before and it was no problem for me. At least, in the past it wasn't difficult. But now I was struggling to even lift it up a couple feet! That aura the Skull Kid's mask generated must have sapped my strength! But despite this, I managed to get the door just high enough for me to slip through. The fairy, seeing an opportunity to escape the musty chamber, followed suit. Still, I ignored her, and continued down a long wooden corridor. It appeared as if I was walking through a tree...which made sense. I did fall through a hole in a tree, so why not? I was willing to believe anything at this point. As I neared the end of the wooden hallway, the fairy came huffing and puffing after me.

"Wait! Are...whew...are you just going to leave me behind?" She panted, "You can't leave a poor, defenseless fairy like me to fend for myself!"

I looked at her and responded with a spiteful snicker.

"Defenseless, eh? What was all that with attacki- *squeak*"

My voice cracked and the fairy gave me a strange look. I cleared my throat and began again.

"Attacking me? And why should I help you at all? You've been nothing but trou- *crack*"

Once again my voice squeaked. What was wrong with me?!

The fairy just kept giving me a funny look, but after a second started begging again.

"Please please please let me come with you! I promise to tell you all I know about the Skull Kid!"

I considered her offer, mulling it over in my head. On one hand, she could be a big help. On the other hand I wasn't sure if I could trust her. But the pro's outweighed the con's and I nodded to her.

"Alright you can come. But if you try anything, you are throu- *creak*…?"

I coughed in frustration. It felt as if there was a tiny, smooth object lodged in my vocal cords. I continued to cough, trying to clear the obstruction. It would not budge…I put a gauntleted hand on my throat and continued to cough. Finally I placed my forehead against the cool, wooden walls of the hallway.

"Are you okay?" The fairy queried, "You seem a little distraught?"

Distraught? Seriously? I thought. I had been robbed, dragged through the forest floor, plummeted to my supposed death, and who knew what else was wrong with me and she says DISTRAUGHT!?

She must have seen a noticeably furious look on my face as she began to apologize for everything they had put me through.

"I'm sorry! I never meant for this to go so far!" She cried, "The Skull Kid didn't use to be so cruel, it was all meant to be a simple prank, I swear!"

"A simple prank? Killing my horse *squeak* was a simple prank?"

The squeaking voice was grating on my nerves. The strange feeling in my throat felt like it was being tightened. It was most likely due to all of the trauma my body and mind had just been put through, but I wasn't totally sure anymore.

"You can't tell me it was a prank…" I said in a weary tone.

"Ok, ok, look. I will help you out with a whole bunch of things. You sound really tired, understandably…" The pixie reasoned out, attempting to bargain. "I know where a nearby fountain is. You can get help from the Great Fairy there. And if anyone can help you right now with the Skull Kid it's the Great Fairy!"

"Fine, show me where and you can tag along." I finally gave in. A fairy fountain was exactly what I needed.

"Awesome! You won't regret it, I promise! My name's Tatl, what's yours?"

"Link." I sighed.

"Ok great! Nice to meet you...and sorry again…"

I refused to respond as we crossed the threshold into the next room.