So, here is the new chapter! Thanks to ILove2HearULaugh for following my story and to JackFlame for reviewing the previous chapter.

I was informed that the scene with the Mask Salesman was weird and didn't really make sense. The only reason he was there is because something will happen in the future, bare with the weirdness for a little longer, 'k?

This is a longer chapter than usual, so if there are things which are not clear please inform me... Please?

Please read and review! Enjoy the story!

Chapter 10

If she does not shut up in the next four seconds, I thought irritably, I'll pitch a fit and scare heroff...

For the past half hour Tatl had been nagging about my harsh tone of voice and cruel words. According to her they were cruel, but she should take into account that I was not feeling too well at that moment. All I could do was sigh repeatedly as she continued her rant of my rudeness.

I was still bothered by the Mask Salesmen and his presence in the swamp. I could not understand why he was there or why he had acted the way he did. I had thought he would wait under the Clock Tower, but apparently not. He had seemed to be up to something, besides trying to choke me to near death. The whole experience did not match up with my journey... it just did not make sense.

As I pondered these thoughts, I realized that Tatl had become quiet. I looked over to her to see her pouting face and crossed limbs. She must have noticed my gaze for she glanced up into my eyes. Her eyes were filled with a hurt and angry look and I felt slightly bad for not listening. I place emphasis on slightly feeling bad.

"Why don't you ever listen to anything I say?" She pouted. "You looked like you were in your own world." She looked away from me and turned her back to me, while still seated on my shoulder. Watching her from the corner of my eye was irritating, so I looked away for a moment.

"Look," I began dreading the return of the nagging. "I was just thinking of the Masked Salesman... its just, I've heard your type of nagging enough to be able to tune it out... Don't get offended, 'k?" I added hastily at the end seeing her bristle at my last comment. "I had a companion who would tell me how to do things in a more gentle manner than you and it still bothered me, alright?" I said wondering if I should tell her sometime during our journey, if she proved loyal. "Its nothing personal, I just need some quiet every now and then... yeah?"

She was not looking at me as I finished what I had to say. Her silence kind of started to bug me. As I pondered if I insulted her again, I noticed that the malicious gaze was no longer present. I stopped in my tracks and looked about uneasily. Why had the gaze relented? Was not the moon still gazing hatefully upon the land in it's usual way? I felt Tatl stir from my shoulder and gaze at me quizzically.

"Hey. What's the matter?" She asked cautiously. "Why'd you stop?"

I looked around, noticing that we were close to the exit of the forest with the bat tree. "I'm not sure, Tatl." I answered uneasily. "The malicious gaze is gone, yet the moon is still in the sky..."

Tatl gazed up at the moon as I trailed off and quickly turned to look at me again. She looked slightly confused. "Huh?" She said obviously confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You remember how we felt like we were being watched, right?" I said looking at her. She nodded hesitantly, so I continued, "Well after we left the swamp, I haven't felt the gaze since... I originally thought the moon was the cause when I saw it earlier, but I'm having second thoughts on that hunch... Something is up and it's bugging the sanity out of me..." I explained feeling as if my whole experience in this world was out of order.

Tatl gazed at me for a moment before turning away. "Maybe you just need to sleep..." She wondered aloud. "You might just be going insane, what with everything that has been going on. I know I would..." Her eyes darted to me a bit of concern lighting her eyes. "We could sleep in one of the trees?"

I wondered if lack of sleep really had anything to do with my state of mind. I sighed deeply and nodded reluctantly. "Sure. I could do with a bit of rest..." I agreed.

I recalled the first time I entered this area, the location not only had the bats, there were Wolfos. I loosened myself up, readying my body for battle. I noticed Tatl looking at me with her head tilted.

"What are you doing?" She sounded slightly suspicious.

"What does it look like I'm doing? There are Wolfos around here." I said looking at her funny. "You can't expect me to go in there unprepared, can you?"

"Oh..." She muttered flying to my hat and hiding.

I felt the urge to grin at her for her lack of memory of the beasts and my encounter with them. Nevertheless, I suppressed the urge to prowl forward instead. I knew the Wolfos would pounce at any moment, they were sneaky like that. The weeds and tall grass were excellent for Wolfos to hide in. They always seemed to pop out of the ground when I least expected them.

I circled around the bat tree, rolling my shoulders to loosen them up, and attempted to bypass the Wolfos. I was immediately startled by the call of a Wolfo to my right. I rolled forward narrowly missing being struck by the long double claws of the Wolfo. I jumped to my feet out of my roll and slashed at the opening the Wolfo had left unguarded. It pulled away with a harsh yelp and flipped back. I have always hated the fact that these creatures are acrobatic. I slashed and dodged my way around the beast only to have another join it. I could here Tatl hovering near my ear giving me advice that was not needed.

Finally, the last blow was landed and I pulled my sword from the belly of the second Wolfo. Sighing at the slight jolts of pain from the fight, I sat down against the bat tree. I was surprised that the bats had not joined in the fray. Pulling away from the tree I searched for a tree that would be easy to sleep in. Tatl was fluttering about crowing with delight at the defeat of the Wolfos.

"Hahahaha!" She was laughing in a very crazed manner. "We showed them!" She turned to me, "Hey! You should do that more often!"

I shook my head as I pulled myself into the large tree I had deemed appropriate. I pulled myself high up to some of the stronger branches. I settled myself comfortably in the crook of two branches and began searching for my cloak stuffed in a small bag I had dragged around. I had learned the hard way that if I wanted to be warm I would need to drag around a cloak everywhere I went. I felt sore, in a way I had not felt since the beginning of my first journey, as I laid down on the branches.

"You are way too much of a softy, you know that Link!?" Tatl said as I relaxed on the branches, with my cloak draped over my body. "Come on! Why do you insist on taking the fastest route with no fighting in it?"

I watched as the darkness grew and Tatl seemed to glow, huh, wait she does glow... I must be tired... I looked at her as she slowly floated over. "I get tired, Tatl, that's why I don't go around beating up every monster in sight..." I said sleepily. "Besides, I'm a kid... I need my rest..."

"You don't act like a kid... most of the time..." She grumbled. "Besides, you got way too comfortable way too soon. How can you sleep in that tree?"

Her voice began to fade as my eyes grew heavy. I could not tell her that I had always slept in trees my whole life, because I was quickly falling asleep.

Tatl's POV:

"Sheesh... This kid..." I said as I gazed upon his almost innocent face. "How the heck does a kid like him fall asleep in a tree...?"

I shook my head and flew about, before landing on his nose, a very cute nose I might add, I mean... never mind. He was all hero, never stopping to think about himself. Only, he was rather annoying today. "Seriously... How did he learn to talk in the Deku form...?" I pondered while gazing at his still face. His gentle breathing told me that he had fallen fast asleep. "His used to this sort of thing, isn't he...?" I asked no one in particular.

I had a habit of addressing Tael with all of my thoughts and now that he was not here I would talk to myself... at least that is how it seemed at the moment. Link's blond hair rustled slightly in the breeze and I noticed that he was not just a kid, he was a growing kid. He was just starting to lose the baby fat around his jaw-line. "How old is he?" I asked myself, "Must be around thirteen or twelve... can't be any older." I looked him over as he slept.

"He was acting weird after that thing with the Mask salesman... I wonder if he was still in pain..." I fluttered over to his chest and felt his breathing grow slightly raspy. "Hmmm... Maybe the poison did affect him a lot more than we thought... He did seem kinda off when he was with the Dekus... Or maybe it's the bruised throat? Hmmm... Must be the bruised throat, cause he's not breathing funny anymore."

I felt him shift ever so slightly underneath me. I wondered why a kid like him would be searching for some friend. No one I have ever met would do something like that for their friends. I felt rather bad for him. Until I remembered his harsh words from earlier. He did not even apologize for his rude words. Strange, he is usually such a suck up. Well, okay, not really a suck up, more like a way too nice guy. He must have been out of it for him not to apologize. Or maybe his throat hurt too much for him to apologize.

I looked at his throat and saw that the finger prints had already started to bruise. "He must bruise easily, else he would not have those bruises." I said aloud. I fluttered over to his chin and sat down to look at the bruises more closely. "Seriously, how could anyone grab a kid so evilly...?" I spat out as I reached out to touch his throat. A whimper escaped Link's lips and I pulled back abruptly. "Wha...? It hurts that much... for him to whimper in his sleep?" I whispered to myself as I pulled away from his head and flew back to his chest. "He rarely groans out in pain, much less whimpers it out... Hmmm... Must be a reflex he tries to hold back."

I looked up at the sky and noticed that it was much darker than I had thought. I looked at Link's sleeping face and shrugged. "Might as well sleep... I was rather bored sitting at the entrance of the Deku palace ignoring him... I should never have let him go by himself. He just ends up disappearing when I turn my back on him and gets hurt." I trod over to the opening of his cloak and snuggled up next to where his head was leaning against his shoulder.

I looked up to his sleeping face, maybe we could be friends. Well, as long as he does not grab me again. That really scared me. I wonder if we can ever be friends. If he asks to be my friend, I'll tell him, sure... "I wonder what the Mask guy was doing out here... weird... I thought he would... always wait... under the... Clock Tower..."

I felt myself relax and start to doze. "I don't... shriek... idiot..."

Link's POV:

Upon awakening I felt a few drops of rain on my exposed forehead "Great... I hope it doesn't pour..." I grumbled as I moved slightly. I stopped suddenly when I remembered that I had slept in a tree.

I assessed my predicament and decided that I would be fine if I stretched my arms and legs. I stretched luxuriously over the branches and slowly sat up. I heard a disgruntled voice coming from my chest. I reached out at just the right moment, to hold Tatl against my chest and keep her from falling. She sat up in my hands while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"At least warn me before moving...!" She yawned. "You almost dropped me!"

I felt rather groggy as I looked down at her. She seemed to be way too clear, almost as if she were no longer a glowing fairy. She looked at me and lifted an eyebrow. "You okay?" She asked in a startled voice. "You look feverish." She flew out of my hands and towards my forehead. I could only watch her, as she made a few clucking noises before flying in front my face. "Oh... You just look feverish... Must be 'cause you just woke up." She said in an almost embarrassed manner.

I blinked at her owlishly. She was acting downright motherly! I could have laughed if my throat did not hurt so much. I shook my head at her and pulled my cloak off of my lap. I jumped down and stumbled a bit. I stood straight and shook myself several times, to get the sleep out of my limbs.

"H-hey!?" I heard Tatl sputter from behind me. "Where are you going?"

I looked up at her forcing a grimace of pain away to answer her. "'m going to find food..." With that I started out only taking a short break for nature's call. I looked over to Tatl and wondered if I could ask her where I could find some food.

"Hey...!" I called my voice not quite so rough any more. "Tatl? Is there somewhere I can find food?"

Tatl flew over obviously disgruntled. "Yeah... There's a place called Milk road that branches off to Romani Ranch..." She said in a low voice.

She almost seemed to not want me to go. I wonder why. I ran out of the dark woods and straight to the open fields of Termina. Once outside I looked about. The creepy bird that had attacked me the first time I came out here was still flying about. I made sure to bypass the bird and dashed towards the second road.

I heard a squawk just as I dove passed the sign. I looked back to see the bird fluttering against the ground. I dashed away up the road while glancing over to Tatl only to see her stick her tongue out at the bird. I tried not to laugh at her childish antics, but as I looked away I could not contain a grin. I came to a strange crossroad where there seemed to be a strange owl-looking statue. I went over to the owl and circled it. Tatl flew out of my hat, where she seems to have been hiding, and flew to examine the statue.

"I wonder what happens if you hit it with your sword?" She wondered out loud

"My sword will get blunt, that's what will happen.." I said flatly.

"Just do it!" She ordered. "You owe me."

I shook my head at her and pulled out my small blade. I looked at it, irritated by the small size. I looked up and Tatl's groan of 'slowpoke'. I struck the owl statue with admirable strength, for someone so small, in my opinion. A flash of light blinded me and the sound of wings passed over me gently. I heard Tatl gasp at the flash of light while I blocked the light from my sensitive eyes. I blinked several times to regain my vision and looked at the now spread winged owl.

"You know... I've seen some weird stuff in my day... but owl statues that spread their wings when they're struck with a sword...?" I said stepping forward to inspect the odd statue.

"Oh, yeah?" Tatl remarked snappily. "Maybe you should tell me what those strange things are."

"That would take too long." I countered not too comfortable with where this was leading. "Besides I'm hungry and eating is my first priority right now." I continued inspecting the owl, which showed signs of some strange writing on it. "Hey, Tatl? Can you read this?"

"Huh? Oh, that? Sure I can." She mumbled, "Not like I'm about to read it out loud... cause all it says is some funky thing about heroes and weird things..."

I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to the road. "Hey, is that the way to the ranch?" I asked pointing up the road and towards some rather odd looking man.

"Yup. Though I've never seen weird guys stand around the entrance with pickaxes before..." She replied, squinting at the man standing by. "I wonder what he's doing...?"

I shrugged both shoulders and proceeded walking in his direction. Tatl slowly trailed behind me, lagging in a manner which seemed moody. I was not liking her mood this morning. She was up to something and I knew I was not going to like it when the time came for her to show her tricks.

"How's your throat?" Oh no, here it comes.

"Um... not too bad. Why?" I answered uneasily. "Hold that thought let me talk to this guy first." I said hastily attempting to get away from her questions. "Excuse me? Why are there so many rocks lying about?"

The guy turned about before looking down to look directly at me. "Oh. You're just a kid." He panted slightly, scratching his head with his empty hand. "Your voice was jus' so full of authority you sorta scared meh."

I frowned at his observation while he continued his rambling. "Ya see... Some crazy person moved a giant boulder right in front o' this here entrance, see? And I was told ta' get it out o' da' way, see? An' well... I jus' finally finished, yup!" He ended seeming way too pleased with himself.

I nodded thoughtfully, wondering if this was more than likely the Stkullkid's doing. Tatl followed several paces behind during my bout of silent thoughts. I wandered up a hill pausing at the sound of lowing cows. Glancing about, I noticed one very harassed looking cow. Rather pitiful in appearance, in my opinion. She stood near a bush, eating slowly and looking extremely unhealthy. I shook my head at this very obvious sign of negligence and proceeded with my walk.

"Uh, hey, Link?" I heard Tatl call. "The cows around here are usually really healthy... This isn't normal for Romani Ranch. They don't starve their cows."

I looked over my shoulder, meeting Tatl's eyes to answer, when the neighing of a horse caught my attention. Not just any horse, my horse. My breath caught and I turned slowly. Not only did I see my horse standing several yards away, but she was behind a gate. I turned fully and dashed up the hill. Stumbling over a few ruts in the ground, I slammed into the gate and reached in to pet her. She whinnied and reached over to nuzzle my hand. I seriously felt my heart lurch at her familiar touch.

I smiled at her hoping I could get her out somehow. Looking about I noticed a little girl sitting on a crate. Full of hope for releasing my horse, I approached the girl.

"Hey, excuse me?" I called softly, trying not to startle her, "Can I talk to the person in charge?"

"..." She Turned to me and I was rather startled to notice her eyes looked extremely empty. "..." When she simply stared at me blankly and turned away, I blinked and headed for the house. She reminded me an awful lot of Malon. I knocked several times, only to receive no answer. Frowning I glanced about, searching for some other dwelling nearby. I spotted a barn not too far away. I ran over and pulled the door open.

I halted at the threshold blinking at the empty barn and the young woman sitting on the floor. I hesitantly stepped forward and closed the door. Soft sobs and shaking shoulders indicated that the young woman was deeply upset.

"I'm sorry... What is going on around here?" I asked after clearing my throat to get her attention.

She jolted and choked on her sobs before turning to look at me. My eyes widened of their own accord. Both girls held an extremely strong likeness to Malon, much too strong. Her eyes were full of tears that were slowly falling from her eyes.

"W-who are you?" She hiccuped, her eyes wide.

"Oh, right, sorry." I mumbled, "My name is Link and the fairy currently hiding behind my head is Tatl."

She opened her mouth in an 'Oh' movement before standing unsteadily and dusting herself off. "My name is Cremia... and my sister, the little girl sitting around staring blankly is..." She broke off to reach her hand over her mouth and sob once, "... Romani... and the poor scrawny cow out to pasture is Nan..."

"Well, nice to meet you I guess..." I said in a nearly confused way, Tatl snorted behind my head over something I most likely would not get, "But what happened to your other cows, and your sister? I mean everything is rather... strange if I do say so myself."

Cremia looked me over, tears spilling from her eyes, "Well... you see... You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

I quirked an eyebrow at her and felt myself tilt my head, "Try me."

She sighed dramatically and pushed her auburn bangs back from her forehead, "My sister started all of this several weeks ago... She would go on and on about stopping the aliens from abducting the cows... I didn't believe her and I know you won't believe me and I know I'm rambling but bare with me, yeah? Anyway, she had been getting up every other day, around two or one, in the morning with her short bow. She would come back in, her quiver empty and I would find her passed out in her bed. It was extremely difficult for her to get up in the morning and when she did she would eat soo much." Cremia paused to catch her breath, "She started to worry me, because I didn't believe her when she said there were alien invaders who came to take the cows. She got silent and wouldn't talk to me and I started getting really worried. Ever since my father died I have had full reign of this ranch and Romani has looked to me for everything." She stopped again for another breath and I raised my hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"And, you worry because she is everything to you and has no one else. So, when you saw her this morning, like some sort of doll not talking or anything, you couldn't help but worry." I finished for her in a soft voice.

She sobbed and nodded hiding her face in her hands. I could not blame her for her distress. I mean, aliens? Wow... Strange. Tatl's gaze was prickling at the back of my head, so I turned my eyes to look at her. She had her head tilted and was looking between Cremia and me. I shook my head at her lightly and turned back to Cremia.

"T-the t-took her... a-nd for almost a d-day and h-half she was gone!" Cremia cried, "I was so f-frantic!"

I hummed in response knowing I would not be able to calm her too easily. She sank back to the ground and returned to her original position of tears and sobs. I sighed, knowing fully that I would not be able to get her to help me get Epona back. I softly told her I was leaving and she nodded ever so slightly.

I walked out of the barn despondent, wondering if I would ever get Epona back. I looked at her longingly. I ran about for at least two hours trying to find some way to get her out, but to no avail. I walked slowly back to Termina Field, back to Clock Town. I sidestepped enemies and slashed at the ones too eager for action. I entered Clock Town, realizing at that moment that Tatl had been exceptionally quiet.

My stomach rumbled while I looked about for Tatl. I felt movement in my hat. Wearily and hungrily, I pulled off my hat and peered in. She sat at the bottom arms crossed and glaring harshly at the cloth of my hat. I could not help the smile that came to my face at her predictable reaction.

"Hey." I called to catch her attention, "You coming out now? I forgave you already... You don't have to feel guilty anymore, about my horse, that is."

She glanced quickly at my face looking away the next instant. "How do I know you won't get mad at me all over again, huh?"

I felt a twinge of sympathy for the little fairy sitting in my hat. She must have gotten into a lot of trouble in the past for her to feel that I would get mad at her all over. "Don't worry about it, 'k?" I replied softly. "Its all in the past, yeah? We don't need to go over this all over again..."

"But... how do I know you won't get mad?" She looked up her small green eyes misty with tears. "You're scary when you're mad..."

"I-I don't usually stay mad..." I said feeling guilty for scaring her. She was really small after all and I knew how terrifying I could be when mad. She fluttered out and flew over to the mailbox to my left and sat on it. I followed close behind, hoping she would forgive me for that incident of the past. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was already past six in the evening. I felt another twinge of hunger and turned back to look at Tatl. She was rubbing her eyes and sniffling.

We were running out of time, I did not want to turn the time back without reconciling our problems first. She stopped sniffling and turned to look at me, her eyes and nose bright red. I felt another guilty pang, even though I recalled my very bitter start with her. I knew I was bigger and stronger than her and there was no way I was going to use the excuse of her being bossy, to be mean to her. I reached out my two fingers to her. She took them both in her hands in a quizzical manner.

"Lets be friends and leave this all in the past, 'k?" I said smiling softly at her. She looked startled for a moment, looking away seemingly to ponder my question. She nodded hesitantly stroking my fingers in an absent minded way. "By the way," I said clearing my throat to catch her attention again, "We need to turn the time back."

She looked up at me, startled. "Right." She said flying off of the mailbox and back to my head. I pulled my cap back on my head covering her gently and pulled out the Ocarina of Time. I stroked it softly in the empty silence of the now deserted town. I could feel Tatl settling herself inside my hat as I held the Ocarina to my lips. The notes came easily to my fingers and I closed my eyes. I relished the soft notes of the Song of Time. The song felt soothing to my ears as I felt everything fall away. Hunger forgotten, I felt the notes swirl all around me and the very distinct motion of falling backwards was the last feeling of that day.