A/N: And here's chapter seven. I think it's a bit slow moving, but I need to get the usual basics out of the way. *sigh* And my poor fairy is still nameless, hence the bit of slowness in this chapter. Any name suggestions are welcome-LOL. Thanks for the reviews and faves-they are very much appreciated. Enjoy the read!

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

"What did you think you were doing?" The fairy demanded. "You barbaric excuse of a-!" She coughed, the fierce front suddenly crumbling away as she swayed to the side, the strength leaving her.

"Whoa, take it easy." Link reached out towards her.

She shied away from his helpful hands. "Don't touch me, elf!" She doubled over, face contorted with an expression of acute pain.

Immediately he held his hands up, taking a deliberate step back. "Sorry, sorry."

She glared in reply, one arm wrapped tightly around her stomach and the other halfway to her mouth. She coughed, choked and gagged, then there was a quiet rumbling sound mixed with her soft moan.

Link's eyebrows danced upwards and turned to the side with a soft whistle to bring Epona back to his side. Stroking the mare's neck, he whispered a few words in her ear and then turned his attention to the saddlebags, rummaging through them to find the spare canteen.

"Here." He held it out by the straps, dangling it front of the fairy.

Her head twisted around to look up at him as she straightened with some effort to continue glaring at him. She looked from the canteen to him and then back again. The confusion was faintly evident on her glowing face.

"It's water." He unscrewed the cap and shook it lightly, before offering it again.

She wrinkled her nose, making no attempt to take it from him.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's clean."

"Why would I trust you?" She hissed, venom lacing her words. "You tried to-" She dissolved in another coughing fit.

"Just drink it." He gave the straps a jerk, making the canteen dance before her eyes.

"Don't tell me what to do!" She growled out, but coughed again and snatched the precious canteen from his hand. In a matter of minutes, she'd downed the entire thing, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand in a most unladylike fashion.

Link accepted the empty container with a slight tilt of his head. "You okay?"

"I don't need your help." She rolled her neck to the side with an audible snap. From the necklace at her throat, she pulled the gem off of it and stretched it into an ornately sculpted staff, with a fierce flame of green fire at the very tip.

Link turned back to Epona, knowing already what was coming. He spoke before she could. "What is the price for safe passage of myself and my friends?"

The fairy stared at him, speechless.

He cast a half-glance over his shoulder, taking in her surprise and her dumbfounded expression. He'd been right in his reasoning. She could not attack him now in good conscience, not when he'd just requested the very information that would've given her grounds to throw him out of the enchanted forest. That was a bit of a relief.

"I beg your pardon?" Her words were uncertain.

"What is the price for safe passage through this forest?" He began to methodically check the bridle, the saddle and the stirrups, keeping his hands busy with Epona. "This is your domain, right?"

The fairy sniffed. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Then if you'll excuse me." He reached up towards the saddle, fully intending to mount and ride away.

"Wait! You can't just ride away like-!"

He paused. "Like what?"

She blushed, looking away. An awkward silence stretched between them and the ethereal air seemed to melt away from her, showing a fragile young woman with a mystery running through her veins. Her voice was quiet and even. "You aren't even going to try and attack me?"

"What for?"

"What?"

"Why would I attack you?"

"You put me in a bottle!"

"It was a very comfortable bottle."

"W-wha—that's beside the point!" She spluttered. "What did you intend to do with me?"

Surprise showed plainly on his face in the glow of her fairy nature. "Do with you?" He repeated. "Nothing. Just a healing potion as a last resort." He tucked one foot in the left stirrup and swung himself up into the saddle in a single, fluid motion.

"Healing—what?" She stared up at him.

He shrugged, tugging the reins lightly as Epona danced to the side impatiently. "Healing potion, you know, the kind of spell that revives a-"

"I know what a healing potion is!" She snapped, irritably. "What I want to know is why you think you needed one and how did you intend to get it!"

"Better safe than dead." He slackened the reins, shifting his weight in the saddle. "And I would have asked nicely."

"Safe than dead how?"

"Just a precaution."

"You sound like you've been there before."

The blond archer shifted uneasily in the saddle. "I should be going…" He murmured.

"Wait—what's your name?"

"My name?"

"Yes, O brilliant, clueless, golden-headed elf." The sarcasm was practically dripping from her words, the sentence punctuated with a stronger shimmer of golden energy.

"Link." He said, simply.

"Link? Like chain link?" She gaped at him.

"Just Link."

She scowled. "Why is your name familiar?"

He shrugged. "I would not know. Can I go now?"

"No you may not!" She lifted her chin a few degrees higher. "You think you can just walk into my forest, stuff me in a bottle, then-"

"I already said I was sorry." He frowned. "And I can't stay to chat. There's someone I need to help…someone who's waiting for me." He drew the reins sharply and Epona wheeled to the left, the muscles tensing and bunching with the power itching to be released.

"What friend?" The staff in her hand began to glow. "And I did not give you permission to go gallivanting about my forest with-"

"A princess." He brought the end of the reins down with a sharp smack on the horse's rump. Epona bolted.

It took him a moment to realize that the fairy was following. She was keeping up beside him, flying easily with a faint trail of fairy dust left in her wake. She didn't say anything and he didn't bother to pick up the conversation.

For the moment, there were more important things to deal with.

A fairy.

Samus was sure her brain had short-circuited at that announcement. She crashed through the underbrush less elegantly than she had originally intended, but it didn't bother her as much as it might have before. She was trying to wrap her head around the entire ridiculousness of the whole day and it was beginning to settle on her like a very cumbersome headache.

The kind of headache that smashing a few heads wouldn't fix.

She winced.

Pikachu sparked faintly on her shoulder and she made a mental note to be careful in her running. The faithful little thing had been keeping a good watch from its perch on her left shoulder, ears alert, flicking forward and back.

As they ran, she checked her scanners, surprised to note there were faint signatures coming from somewhere behind them. Her first thought was Link, but that disappeared when she realized that it was not one thing approaching, but two.

Two could not be good.

She doubted the others could have caught up so quickly in the space of time that they had between them. She should've had the better headstart.

"Pika-!" Pikachu sparked dangerously on her shoulder and she slowed enough to turn while running, following the mouse's line of sight. A faint, barely-there pathway branched off to the right in the midst of her random trampling.

Slowing to a stop, she took in the surroundings, careful to mark them and capture necessary details for later use. Her scanners did not pick up anything out of the ordinary, so she started off down the small clearing. It was a very narrow pathway, with the thin strip of dirt worn through being the only notable notation.

Pikachu scrabbled on her shoulder for a moment and she slowed, allowing it to catch its balance, casting a cautious glance around to see what had unsettled it. There was nothing there that immediately caught her eye.

Nothing except for the metal glint of a handle sticking out from a tree two paces away to the right.

Metal glint.

Tree.

The actuality of it registered and Samus smiled, turning towards it. That was worth investigating. Perhaps it led to some sort of underground facility—at the very least, gathering information would be more than helpful at this point.

She caught hold of the thin handle and pulled upwards.

~*~*~*~Thanks for reading!~*~*~*~