Legend of Zelda: Seven Seals

Chapter Three, Part One: Stone, Stolen

The thief crept through the dark and forbidding forest as quietly as she could. The dark trees loomed overhead, seeming to stare down at her and ask, What do you think you're doing? She could hear animals in the trees but they remained hidden from view, and insects droned lazily past her head. The underbrush was spilling out onto the path and think roots cut through the dirt, threatening to trip her up. The thief decided that she hated the forest and all its winding paths and overgrown plants; she preferred somewhere open where you could see your attackers coming. Here there were just to many spots for an enemy to hide.

The thief slid off the path and into the dense foliage. She walked, barely making a sound or rustling a leaf, for an hour or so before the trees began to think out and she could see a clearing in the distance. She glided, wraith-like, past their sleeping sentry. She snorted with contempt mentally; the Forest Folk were fools. The rest of the village was asleep as well and the only movement was the wind blowing her hair around her face.

She moved quickly through the village and paused before the entrance to the grove of the Great Deku Tree. Then she went in; following the twisting path to its end. Before her were to two great trees. The Great Deku Tree; tall, proud, but withered and grey, forever still in death. The second Great Deku Tree, formerly known as the Deku Sprout; smaller than its processor but full of life and vitality.

The thief approached the former Great Deku Tree and went down into the system of caves beneath its roots. She quickly bypassed all the traps and obstacles and made it down into the Stone Room. She could see the Kokiri Stone glowing faintly on its pedestal. She approached it, watching warily for any kind of trap but none showed itself. She took the stone. In its place she left a small surprise for whoever would come to find it.

"You know," Ciela said after they'd been walking for a while. "This wasn't really how I wanted to meet you. I wanted to get right in your face and say, 'Hi, my name is Ciela and I want to be your friend,' in a really creepy voice." The yellow fairy sighed dramatically and her color dimmed a little bit.

Link laughed. "That's okay. It's nice to meet you anyways."

Ciela perked back up and started zooming around his head again. "Are we there yet?"

"I donno. Aren't you the one who should know how far it is?"

"Eh, probably."

"Hey, can you tell me exactly what's going on. I'm a little confused."

"Oh, sure," Ciela slowed down and perched on Link's shoulder. "So, as you've probably guessed, I am a fairy of the forest. I'm pretty young for a fairy actually; I winked into existence about the same time you did. The other fairies make fun of me for it 'cause they're so old and wise and all-knowing and junk. So I play tricks on them. They never see it coming." She sighed dreamily. "Good times, good times… Oh right, that's not the point, is it? So the Great Deku Tree called me into his pavilion place and pulled all this 'littlest fairy' crap and I was only half listening 'cause there was something shiny on the ground so he dropped a freaking acorn on my head (seriously, who does that?) and asked, 'Are you even listening?' and I was like, 'What?' and he gave me this, 'are you sure this is the right fairy for this big important job' look. Do you know that look? I get it a lot. So I tried to act all professional and asked, 'What would you have of me, Great Deku Tree?' and he said, 'Go to the Marketplace, find the boy in green who is holding the company of Zoras, and bring him to me.' I was like, 'You got it, Great Deku Tree!' and I zoomed off to find you. I'm pretty sure I got lost a couple of times. Ooo butterfly! Sorry. Soooo… yup. That's what happened."

Link stared at the tiny fairy. "You talk really fast, ya know that?"

Ciela turned a bright shade of red. "Were you even listening to me? Did you even hear what I said?" Link imagined smoke coming out of her as she bounced around on his head.

"I only caught about one word in every five," he told her.

She slowed down and floated right up into his face. "You must have really bad listening skills."

"My listening skills are fine!" Link said indignantly. "You just talk really fast!"

"I do not!" Ciela retorted. "I talk at a perfectly normal speed! Everybody else just talks slowly!"

"What kind of logic is that?" Link asked.

"My logic! Oh shiny…" Ciela drifted away and Link snagged onto her before she could get to far.

"Hey! You can't get distracted! You have to take me to the Kokiri Forest!" he said.

"Oh that's easy. Just follow that path."

Link stopped walking and stared at her. "Then how'd you get lost?"

"I don't know! Do I look like I'm that smart? Oh crap, I just insulted myself. I really must be a genius. Hey! A dust cloud!" she was looking back over Link's shoulder at Hyrule Castle which could still be seen faintly in the distance.

"What?" Link turned around and sure enough, there was a giant cloud of billowing dust hurtling towards them.

"Get down in the river bank," Ciela said, all humor gone.

Link changed his course without hesitation and slid down the sandy bank until he was completely out of sight. He could feel the ground beneath him begin to rattle as the dust cloud got closer. "Horse hooves," Ciela breathed in his ear. "A lot of them." Link nodded in agreement.

Pebbles were knocked loose and they rained down over Link's head. They splashed into the water and as the hoof beats got closer Link was bounced around and finally jarred into the river himself. The water was cold when he struck it and he could feel the current pulling him back the way he'd come. He dug his feet into the sand and held himself there for as long as he could. A minute later he broke the surface, lungs screaming for air, and the dust cloud was gone. "Growing up with the Zoras was good for one thing," Link muttered to himself. He climbed back up the riverbank. He pulled his hat off his head and wrung some of the water out of it.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay!" Ciela asked frantically, firing away at a thousand words a second. "I was so worried when I saw you go under! You can hold your breath for a really long time, didja know that? I can't swim very well, what with being a fairy and all. Being wet makes it hard to fly. Are you sure you're okay?" She was really close to his face, fluttering around nervously.

"I'm fine," Link said soothingly. He plucked her out of the air and placed her on his shoulder. "Where do you think they're going?"

Ciela nestled down into his collar. "I donno. Probably know where good. Come on, let's get a move on. We have to get to the Kokiri Forest before nightfall."

"Why?" Link asked curiously as he set off at a brisk pace.

"You mean you really don't know?" Ciela asked incredulously.

"About what?"

"Wow, you really have been living under a rock. About the Stalchildren."

"What are Stalchildren?" Link asked.

"I was about to explain that! Sheesh!" Ciela paused to take a breath. "Nobody really knows for sure. They're rumored to be the lost souls of innocent children who were murdered or something, but there are a lot of different stories out there. The only thing that's really a known fact is that they only come out at night and attack other children; trying to turn them into more Stalchildren." Ciela's voice had grown low and ominous as she spoke.

Link shuddered and looked up at the sky. "Let's hurry."

"My thoughts exactly."

The two of them picked up the pace and shot looks at the sky every few minutes. Link grew worried as the sun sank lower and lower and the sky was stained red, and the forest still wasn't in sight. Link began to move faster and faster until he was running at a pace just below a sprint. The sky grew darker and a pit of worry settled itself into Link's stomach. What if they didn't make it? "There it is!" Ciela shrieked suddenly.

Link jumped and looked around. There, just down a long sloping hill, was the thick, green forest. Link ran down the hill as fast as he could, his momentum pulling at him and almost sending him tumbling head over heels. He stumbled as the ground leveled out but his speed kept him steady and took him to a few feet in front of the forest.

"Let's go!" Ciela yelled excitedly. She zoomed ahead of Link but froze suddenly. "Hey, who're you?" he heard her ask.

"Get out of my way," a low femal voice replied and Ciela was batted outo f the way. A cloaked figure strode down the path towards Link. She stopped before him. "Out of my way."

"No," Link said defiantly, his hate of being ordered around kicking in. "What'd you do to my friend?" He glared up at the tall woman, feeling short.

"Nothing I won't do to you," she replied. "Now move!"

"No!" Link said again. She backhanded him across the face and sent him flying into the woods. He hit the ground and flipped over as he skidded before running painfully into a tree. The world swam before him but he saw the woman leave the forest and head west towards a small smudge on the horizon. Then everything went black.

The thief hurried out of the forest and took off across the plain at an angle. She stopped at a small encampment of tents just outside the forest. She entered the largest one and was instantly assaulted by a million questions.

"Did you get it?"

"Where is it?"

"Can I see it?"

"Can I hold it?"

"Was it hard?"

"Did anyone see you?"

"Did you have any problems?"

"Shut it!" the thief roared. The tent fell silent. "Yes, I have it. No, you can't touch it, no, you can't hold it and no, I didn't have any problems and no one saw me? Any other pointless and annoying questions? No? Good. Get the hell out of my tent; I have a headache." Everyone left like the tent was on fire.

The thief sighed and flopped down on the soft bundle of furs that served as her bed. All she wanted to do was fall asleep but thoughts kept whirling around her head; mainly about the boy. He was obviously just another Kokiri but then, what was he doing outside the forest in the first place? Why was he so defiant? Kokiri were normally a quiet, timid folk .and his accent was Hylian, not Kokiri. The thief groaned and flipped her; he didn't matter. So why did is angry face keep popping up in her thoughts? And the fairy… shd didn't have that sense of age and wisdom generally associated with fairies. She seemed young and foolish; reckless.

The thief forced herself to believe that it didn't matter. This was just another job; no need to get too caught up in it. She slowly fell asleep; but the sense that she would see the boy again, and soon, persisted.

Enia: Gasp! Oh my god! The Kokiri Stone's been stolen! Everyone panic! What will Link do when he gets there only to find the stone gone? Auaghh! This is so terrible!

Samik: Enia, calm down.

Enia: Hm, what? Oh right. Sorry. Had a minor freak-out there. But I'm cool now. Awright! Until next time me n' Samik are signing off!

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