NH3: Alright, first off, many thanks to Scrambled Eggz for drawing the cave scene from the end of Chapter 7. Despite not actually looking up the drawing guide, he did a pretty good job with it. It's got a raggedy edge that looks pretty cool. So just so you guys know, I have two pictures drawn that I need to scan and digitize, so maybe I'll get to them sometime…

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Chapter 9: The Fairy Crown

"Wow…" Nicolas said, a little sarcastic as Link curved around the last island in the archipelago. Link took a casual glance at him and saw him looking at his new Current Chart.

"What is it?"

"A lucky break. The currents split just past Picturesque Island," Nicolas responded, before holding up a compass, silver in color. "You're heading west. Turn 45 degrees left."

Link quickly complied. It didn't really bug him that Nicolas was giving him commands; he had been planning to look at his own compass in a few moments anyway. After doing so, he decided to let the wind and currents do their work, taking his hands off the steering rod.

"Hey, how did you get the Wind Waker out of my pocket back there?" He asked. Nicolas looked up.

"I, uh, pick-pocketed you…sorry…" He said awkwardly, looking rather ashamed.

"Not exactly a princely habit," Link teased a little.

"Hey! That's not my fault," Nicolas laughed, grinning. It was strange; Link didn't remember ever seeing him grin. "When we were all younger, my brothers constantly stole my things. Nothing too serious, just the little stuff I needed. So I developed the habit to get them back and would prank them with it, asking for my stuff back and making them panic when they couldn't find it."

"Nice," Link commented. "Anything else I should know?"

"I got fast because I had to run whenever my brothers found out what I did to them. Which happened a lot," Nicolas added. Link laughed, and he was reasonably sure that the King of Red Lions cracked a smile at that, even though he couldn't see his face.

"So what about you? Has Aryll ever done anything like that to you?" Nicolas asked back after Link stopped laughing.

"Well, no, actually. I was more frequently pranking her in our spare time. She got me good a few times though. One time, she rigged our front door to dump a bucket of water on whoever left the house. She took a huge risk of possibly getting Grandma, but of course, she got me. Was not expecting that…" Link said a little sheepishly. Nicolas laughed in response.

"Maybe I'll get to meet her, and your grandma, and all the other people you met on your journeys," Nicolas said, sighing a little. Link thought he looked like he was imagining what that would be like. So he left it at that, letting his companion daydream as they sailed. He had another thing to occupy his mind anyway.

Link looked to the horizon. They had gotten a lot done on their first day, but the sun was almost in position to set. Link had no idea what they could expect at night. In the Great Sea, sharks and octoroks reigned during the night. There could be a lot worse in this sea, so Link was more prone to resting out the night on the next island. In a burst of curiosity, Link pulled out his Eastern Sea map and looked at the name of the next island. His eyes widened and he smiled at the sight.

"Conch Island…" He muttered to himself. It seemed like a simple name, but that wasn't the reason he was happy.

The island was shaped like a heart.

The only islands that were shaped like hearts were Fairy Fountains. The name fit too: the entrances were all shaped like seashells. Link momentarily wondered if Nicolas had ever seen a fairy before. He decided to ask.

"Hey Nicolas, have you ever seen a fairy before?"

"What's a fairy?" Nicolas responded. Link, for once, couldn't believe his ears. Nicolas, of all people, a prince with access to many luxuries and the holder of so much knowledge, didn't even know what a fairy was. Link quickly wondered why those experiences weren't a part of his stories before remembering that while magical, they weren't exciting to tell.

"You'll see. The next island is a Fairy Fountain, and we're camping there tonight." Link said. That sure made Nicolas perk up. Now he looked ahead of them towards the silhouette in the distance, which was definitely looking like a Fairy Fountain. Beyond that, the sun was beginning to set.

"Do you have any particular reason for camping out the night? Other then simply the fairies, I mean," Nicolas asked.

"Yeah. The seas can be very dangerous at night, especially for a small boat like this," Link patiently said. Nicolas nodded and looked back ahead, his eyes gazing in wonder as they continued to approach the island.

A little while later, the sun was halfway set and the island was in plain sight ahead. Nicolas seemed jittery in excitement and impatiently waited for them to hit land.

Link laughed internally and proceeded to let down the sail a little, just to avoid crashing onto the small shore. He kept doing this until the sail came all the way down and they were cruising the last few yards to shore. Link watched as Nicolas eagerly jumped overboard and into the water, which was about waist-deep now, and climbed ashore, looking up at the huge conch shell that was the island's feature. Link quickly piloted the boat against the shore, slightly beaching it to keep it there before jumping overboard and walking up to Nicolas's side.

"Of course, Fairy Fountains are almost always blocked…" Link said as he looked over to the entrance. A large rock blocked the way, and Link found it suitable to use his bombs. He quickly ran back to the boat.

"What are you doing?" Nicolas asked after seeing him and the rock.

"Grabbing some bombs," Link responded, pulling out his bag. He carried it over and sat it on the ground, pulling out one, which automatically lit its own fuse.

"I wouldn't hold on to that thing." Nicolas said warily. Link rolled his eyes and tossed it over to the base of the rock. It's not like it could kill him while he was perfectly healthy, although that pain wasn't desirable…

BOOM!

The sound jolted Link out of his thoughts as the rock blew apart ahead of them. The smoke quickly cleared to show the hole in the ground. The two boys quietly walked up to it, peering down.

"I can't see a thing down there…" Nicolas said.

"It's down there alright," Link responded.

"How do we get down?" Nicolas asked.

"Jump," Link stated, and before Nicolas could protest, Link pushed him inside and he could hear his scream echo. Link jumped in after his companion, biting his lip to avoid screaming. He didn't like this part that much either, trusting that magic would slow him down at the end…

And before he knew it, he was slowing down and his feet touched the ground. He stood up, a little shaky.

"Don't ever do that again…" Nicolas said nearby. He probably meant to say it with more force, but was too busy examining the magical surroundings. The entire cave was white and purple, looking a little spongy everywhere. It disappeared into darkness above them, and ahead of them, a pool of water glittered, a single fairy fluttering about above it. Link stepped off of the pad and behind him; a column of light appeared, showing him the way out. Link heard Nicolas step forward with him as they approached.

"Is that a fairy?" He asked.

"It's actually a Great Fairy…" Link responded as they started to climb the few step up to the pool.

"That's a great fairy?" Nicolas asked.

All of a sudden, a loud poof was heard, and the fairy was engulfed in a bluish smoke before the Great Fairy spun out from it and floated above them. She laughed mirthfully before beginning to speak.

"Young waker of the winds…your heroic deeds have been told far and wide. I wish to reveal to you a piece of your future soon to come," She said, catching Link off guard. Then again, he didn't know what else fairies could give him before now.

"Um, okay…" Link said awkwardly, and before he knew it, he was floating above the ground. The fairy glided forward, placing her hands around his head, not actually touching it as four hands held there place around them.

"Clear your mind…relax your body…embrace everything…" She said melodically, Link following her command, almost unwillingly, his body automatically doing as told.

The few moments afterward seemed to blur up in his mind. It was like he had been suddenly surprised, and had tightened up. But he hadn't seen anything. Did it work?

The Great Fairy backed up a little, and Link floated back to the ground, still in wonder about what just happened.

"Your future is one of great rush and worry. Your greatest enemy shall soon be time, and you'll have to carry great responsibility to defeat it," she said. Link felt slightly puzzled at this message. Wasn't his enemy technically already time? Or was there more to that meaning? And what would his new responsibility be?

"Do you wish for your future soon to come to be told?" He heard the fairy ask, and Link turned to see that she now floated in front of Nicolas. After a moment, Nicolas nodded and began to float up in the air. Link saw the Great Fairy's hands take up strategic positions across from each other and around his head.

"Clear your mind…relax your body…embrace everything…" She said melodically, and Link watched Nicolas comply. All of a sudden, his eyes widened, and his arms and legs seemed to tense, as if they were trying to reach the ground. A few moments passed, and Nicolas finally relaxed, being lowered to the ground. The Great Fairy backed up.

"Your future is one of despair. Your mind shall soon be tested to its very limits, and you'll have to face frightening realities beyond reality. Do not give up hope. It is your only hope…" She said rather gravely. Link was surprised. He had been expecting Nicolas's prophecy to be similar to his. But what did it mean? Was this how he felt about being a future chieftain?

"I'm sorry that I cannot bring you good news, young prince," She said to Nicolas, who wore an incredibly sad face. "I do have a gift for you, though, and I hope it'll help."

Gracefully, the Great Fairy lifted two of her hands and put the other two together in front of her. She opened them after a moment, but what Link expected to be a flower was not a flower, but rather a normal looking fairy. It flew forward towards Nicolas, who stared at it, a little wary. Trailing magical sparkles, it flew in an arc over his head, and the sparkles floated down into his hair, momentarily shining before disappearing.

"This symbolic gift is called a Fairy Crown. Every fairy from now on will perform the same act to you when healing you. They will remain with you, healing further wounds of you and your companions for some time. You will need it…" She said, before suddenly glowing into a brilliant flash of light, shrinking into nothing. No laugh was heard, and the normal fairies began to fly outward from where she was.

"That was interesting…" Link said. Nicolas said nothing, but simply sighed.

"I'm gonna get caught, and be brought back to my forced role…" he groaned. Link walked over and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. Enjoy what you can right now, and don't think about tomorrow..." Link said gently. Nicolas nodded.

"I guess you're right…"

"That was a pretty good gift you got right there. Not even I have that one. It must be really rare…" Link said, smiling.

"Oh, it can't be that good…" Nicolas smiled back.

"As if!" Link yelled, playfully pushing him into the path of a fairy. The fairy immediately flew over him in an arc above his head, leaving sparkles to land on his head. If he was wounded, it would have healed him too. Nicolas seemed to blush a little, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as it happened. Link grinned as Nicolas turned back to him, the fairy still fluttering about him.

"Well, um…yeah…let's get back up top…" He said, walking back towards the column of light.

"Yeah, hold on…" Link said, before taking out a bottle. He quickly snatched a fairy in it and closed it, putting it away and taking out another, doing the same before stopping. Nicolas looked at him a little oddly.

"For later," Link explained, walking back the way they came. "Shall we?" He asked.

"Sure." Nicolas shrugged, stepping into the light. He began to float up, and then whizzed into the darkness. Link stepped in and followed, feeling the wind ruffle his features as he quickly reached the top and landed outside, right next to the hole. Nicolas stood nearby, now without a fairy, looking out at the darkened sea. Above, the moon had begun to rise, and the stars shone brightly. The water glittered prettily, and Nicolas's eyes seemed to reflect the sight. Link walked over to him.

"We have a long day ahead of us. We should try to get some sleep…" Link said as he walked past to the King of Red Lions, which turned its head as Link reached into the cargo hold and pulled out two blankets before walking back to Nicolas.

"Here…" he said, holding out the blanket to Nicolas, who took it. Link walked a few steps away and lay it down on the ground before laying on it and pulling the rest of it over him, making a sleeping bag of sorts. Link looked up to his relative position and saw Nicolas beginning to do the same, apparently having no qualms with doing such a thing. Link had thought he would, since he was a prince and all. But he was more prepared to do this then Link thought.

"Good night, Nicolas," Link called out.

"Good night, Link. Don't let the bed bugs bite," He responded. "Good night, King."

"Good night, Nicolas. Good night Link," The boat called back.

"Good night, King…" Link finished, before curling up in his blanket and closing his eyes, quickly falling asleep.

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NH3: Guess this is a little bit of a filler chapter, but whatever. It contributes to the plot, which is good enough for me. R&R! Reviews do make my day.