Chapter 11: Birds, Bites, and Fairy Friends
Hey folks! I'm back. I know it's been a short while (well, short-ish), but I'm glad to present this new chapter to you guys in all its glory! I'd like to as always thank those who've favorited and followed this story so far, as well as Hoenn Master 96 and Skychild101 for reviewing, and of course Loke Groundrunner for proofreading this chapter. Now, without anymore ado, I present this chapter! On with the show!
It had been almost two days since Link and Juno had set out from Kakariko Village, and they still had about an hour to go till they reached the edge of the Eastern Province.
Personally, Link was a tad irritated; they could probably have arrived hours ago, but Juno had insisted she 'knew a shortcut' and led him through a bat-invested cave. And since Juno provided the only light in the cave, the bats were instantly attracted to them and Link had to frantically fight them off whilst Juno hid under his cap. This wouldn't have bothered Link so much if it hadn't have been that the cave went in a COMPLETELY different direction - they had found themselves not in Eastern Hyrule, but rather all the way at the base of Death Mountain.
After backtracking through the cave (and suffering from even more bat attacks this time around), Link was already in a sour mood. But it got even more irritating from there; it started raining. And for a fairy that was apparently raised in the woods, Juno had a great loathing for the rain - something about how it messed with a fairy's wings - so she instantly began squealing in distress, forcing them to take shelter under a nearby tree until the rain lifted. At least it gave him time to eat, as he hadn't had anything to eat all day on account of the poor directions he was given.
Thankfully, they weren't too far from the rocky wasteland that marked the start of Eastern Hyrule. However, the area was hilly and covered in large rock formations and dangerous cliffs, making it difficult to traverse, not to mention the swarms of octoroks that made their nests in the rocks and cliff sides. The nasty little creatures were known for attacking unsuspecting travelers, oftentimes stealing any food or shiny objects from their victims. Thankfully, Link was prepared to deal with them, and upon getting attacked by a small group of them, made short work of the eight legged monsters.
What he wasn't prepared to deal with, however, was a verbal thrashing from his pint sized companion.
"What did you just do?!" Juno yelled furiously at Link as soon as he sheathed his blade, a look of frustration on her face.
"Uh, I just saved us?" Link stated slowly, as if it were obvious.
"By killing innocent creatures?!"
"Innocent?" Link repeated incredulously. "Those things just tried to attack us, Juno!"
"And they obviously weren't a threat to us. We could have easily avoided them!"
"They would've easily surrounded us and we'd have been forced into the same situation."
"Didn't you see their nest?!"
Link blinked, puzzled. "No, I was too busy focusing on them closing around us to inspect their sleeping habits."
Juno huffed furiously. "Link, their nest had eggs in it! Those octoroks were mothers trying to protect their babies! We invaded their territory, so they tried to defend it! Now those poor eggs are going to die, or hatch without their mothers." Juno's furious expression was promptly replaced by one of sympathy.
"Well how was I supposed to know?" Link retorted. "I was being attacked, what did you expect me to do, let myself get eaten?"
"No, I expected you to respect nature!"
Link sighed heavily. Ever since he'd allowed Juno to tag along, all she did was lecture him about respecting the balance of nature, and not to disrupt the order of the land, and on and on. She was a nature fairy, he knew that, but did she have to be so preachy about it? There was no way he'd be able to completely avoid disrupting something in the world, and she took her philosophy to the extremes at times; she had practically chewed him a new one for protecting her from the bats because he had killed a few whilst trying to escape from them, for goodness sake!
"If I didn't kill those octoroks, something else would've." Link responded in an even tone after finally managing to compose himself. "You can't possibly expect to save every single organism or stop every single tragedy in the world. There is a cycle that happens, Juno: animals eat other animals to survive. Some things live, other things die."
"Well those animals didn't need to die," Juno grumbled as she settled down inside his hat. "You're just gonna have to try harder to control yourself."
At this, Link felt a burning heat well up inside him. Did she just say he wasn't trying hard enough? "Well at least I'm actually doing something." Link spat venomously.
For a moment, everything went silent, and Link immediately knew he had struck a nerve in the little fairy.
"What is THAT supposed to mean?!" Juno shouted from atop his hat. If Link could've seen her face, he would've seen just how downright vicious she looked. Just her voice was enough to intimidate him slightly.
Refusing to let the tiny girl intimidate him, Link replied with equal fire, "I have a job to do, Juno, and it's damn well more important than a couple of octoroks. If I don't hurry and stop Agahnim, then nothing will exist. I don't have time to worry about the little things when the fate of the entire world is at stake."
"So what, I'm just a nuisance or something?" Juno shot back, firing her words at Link as if they were poison tipped arrows. "If you recall, you let me come along, moron. You were the one who told me you wanted to be my friend, you were the one who opened up to me about your oh-so-important mission, and you were the one who was muttering in sleep about trusting others."
When Link heard her mention his dream, he froze. He was muttering in his sleep? Suddenly the words the shadow had told him came rushing back to him.
Even the goddesses made the mistake of trusting others. You can only rely on the one person you truly know: yourself. Trust leads to compassion, and compassion leads to mercy. This world does not take pity on the merciful, Link.
Link clenched his teeth at the memory. The shadow's warning seemed to resound with him now, for some reason - he couldn't let one fairy cloud his judgement when so much was at stake. "Just shut up, you annoying fairy," his voice was barely a whisper, quivering in anger. "You've done nothing to help me so far. I should've just embarked on my own; it was a mistake to let you join me."
Juno gasped, feeling hot, angry tears spill down her cheeks. Why was she crying? She never cried, not even when some of the other fairies would hit her and play mean tricks on her. Not once had she cried from another person's actions. So why was she crying so fiercely now?
"I thought you were different from everyone else, Link," Juno muttered, her voice a mixture of anger, disappointment and hurt. "But I should've known better. You wrecked my home, you locked me in a bottle, you mocked and ridiculed me - you're just like everyone else."
She then flew off of Link's hat, tears still staining her cheeks. As she went to fly off, she turned back to look at Link. His face was hard, unmoving, stern - like an unfeeling statue, or a remorseless killer. Or a like a cruel friend.
Before leaving, Juno felt she had to throw last comment out. "I'm wrong, you're not like everyone else," she corrected herself, "you're worse. You pretended to be my friend, that you actually wanted to be nice to me and help me. I thought you'd be my first friend Link, but... but..." Juno felt her upper lip quiver as more tears began to flow from her eyes. "But you're nothing but a great big jerk!"
Without another word, Juno flew off, sobbing to herself as she flew to find some spot to be alone.
Immediately, Link felt guilt swallow him; he had been completely out of line stating it was a mistake to befriend her. He knew that his declaration of friendship had meant a lot to her, and he knew that, despite her annoying attitude and unhelpful actions, she was still trying her best to aid him. He had been so worried about what the shadow had been telling him and his own frustrations he had refused to think about Juno's own personal feelings in the matter.
Link cursed to himself. She may be an irritating, preachy, hot-headed, brat of a fairy, but he wasn't going to let his words crush her into pieces. For all of her faults, Link could see a sweet, energetic, excitable, selfless, wonderful fairy girl that only wanted to have a friend. And he wasn't going to ruin that for her.
Juno had flown a considerable distance away from Link, before finally coming to a stop just outside the entrance to the Eastern Province. There was a small grove there, so Juno whizzed under a large rosebush and continued to cry.
She knew she shouldn't be crying so much over a friend she'd only known for two days, but still, he was the first friend she'd ever had. And he turned out to be nothing but a jerk. Even if she thought that, though, she couldn't lie - she had been a bit a brat as well.
Fine, it was both their faults!
She knew that she shouldn't have prodded and preached and ranted so much, and definitely shouldn't have told Link to try harder, but at the same time, he shouldn't have said such harsh things in return. Was having friends always this difficult and frustrating? If so, maybe she should just go back to being the lonely outcast.
"Hey, look, it's Juno the dirt freak!" came a particularly grating sound, which unfortunately Juno knew too well.
"Leave me alone, Bacchus, I'm not in the mood," Juno muttered dejectedly, turning her face to keep the fairy from seeing her tears.
Standing behind her was a group of four fairies: three female and a single male. The male, Bacchus, had long, curly red hair, a fat face, and puffy red nose. His eyes looked as though he was trouble keeping awake, and he had a strange, slightly unsettling smile on his face. His white robes were stained a number of hues, and seemed to have been put on backwards. His wings were short and stubby, like his arms and legs, and similarly stained. He reeked of a foul, rank odor.
"What's wrong, freak? Someone finally smash that rotten bush of yours?" the fat fairy taunted, eliciting a cruel round of laughter from one of his companions. Juno had to bite her tongue to keep from letting out another stream of tears from the truth of his statement.
"Yeah, freak? That shitty bush of yours finally get smashed?" one of the female fairies repeated, laughing to herself with a pig-like snort. She had short, wiry brown hair and soft, youthful features. However, she appeared to be wearing the exact same outfit as her companions, and had even styled her wings in the same way as one of them. Truly, she was the definition of a copycat.
"Echo, why don't you shut up and make up your own insults for once?" Juno replied, refusing to let even an ounce of emotion into her voice.
Echo's companions instantly began to laugh, making the fairy in question turn red from embarrassment. "Why don't you shut up, dirt freak?!" She shouted, picking up a small pebble and throwing it at her head.
It missed, though not by much, and caused Juno to jump in shock.
Another of the female fairies looked at Echo in disapproval. "Echo, you don't need to throw things; words are hurtful enough," she chided.
This fairy had a much fairer and warmer feel to her. Her dirty blond hair flowed to her waist, and her soft green eyes stared in pity at Juno. Her wings, which Echo had styled her own after, were long and graceful, sprinkled with bits of dew that shined ever so slightly when sunlight touched them. She was Vesta, and unlike the other fairies, she bore Juno no ill will. She almost never talked to Juno, and did little to actually defend her, but was arguably the only fairy who had ever shown her even the slightest hint of kindness.
"Sticks and stones, Vesta," the last fairy tossed out casually, before rounding over to Juno. "Besides, it looks like she's already in a sour enough mood; she's been crying like a baby, it would appear."
The last fairy, Minerva, was the the tallest and most intimidating of them. She had her straight black hair styled into a tight bun, and her startling gray eyes pierced into Juno as if searching for every flaw. Her wings were large and majestic, like a bird of prey's, for that's exactly what she reminded everyone of.
"I wasn't crying, and I'm not a baby," Juno said, gritting her teeth as she refused to move from her spot. She would not give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to her by beating them up.
"Really, because I've never once seen you cry before, Juno," Minerva noted. "Could it be that someone finally broke you in a way that no one else could?"
"Just shut your trap before I beat you so badly not even the Great Fairies will be able to repair the damage!" Juno growled, forcing everyone else back except Minerva.
Minerva gave a condescending smile, showing she wasn't intimidated in the least. "Well, that's quite a threat, little beast. But I doubt you'd beat on us after the scolding you got last time."
Juno continued to growl as she struggled to control herself. "So just because the Great Fairies don't like me, you think that gives you right to bully me?" Her voice was shaky from her rage, and she was trembling in fury.
Though she'd never admit it out loud, Minerva was actually just a little scared. But only a little.
"You're a wild fairy, Juno," Minerva stated harshly, a cruel, taunting sneer gracing her lips, "an unknown element. Fairies like you are always the most unstable and dangerous of our kind. You should consider yourself lucky; most other wild fairies are excommunicated swiftly and cast away. You're lucky enough to remain within our society. You hold a rare privilege, Juno, so be grateful."
"Grateful?!" Juno roared, furious. She jumped to her feet, prepared to tear the wings off of Minerva's arrogant little body. "I'd prefer excommunication to the treatment I've recieved from you 'benevolent fairies'! I've been treated like a pariah for my entire life, and if you think that's something to be grateful for, then by all means, let's switch lives, you stuck up cockroach in fairy's clothing!"
The last insult seemed to hit Minerva hard. "You little brat!" she screamed harshly, before sending a harsh glare at Bacchus and Echo, who were sniggering at Juno's jab.
Turning back to Juno, she tried in vain to compose herself, but only managed to get even more worked up the more realized how much she hated Juno. Most of the other fairies disliked Juno, but could tolerate her, but Minerva absolutely loathed her. Her wild attitude, her disheveled appearance, the way animals and plants seemed to been more drawn to her than her own kind - everything about her just made Minerva's blood boil for some reason. Someone as flawed as Juno didn't deserve to belong among other fairies. Yet for some reason, the Great Fairies still allowed her to remain with them, and it infuriated the gray eyed fairy to no end.
"Why won't you just leave already and let the rest of us finally get on with our lives?!" Minerva screamed angrily, ranting at Juno, who met her angry stare and returned it with an equally cold look.
Hoping to diffuse the situation, Vesta stepped in between them, giving Minerva a hard look. "Why don't we let this go, Minerva? There's no sense turning this into a huge fight."
But her words seemed to have no effect, as Minerva instead flew up to a nearby tree. Sitting upon one of the tallest branches was a large nest, and resting inside was a trio of jet black birds. They were nearly identical to crows, except they were much larger and had razor sharp beaks and barbed talons. The birds were known as Stachel, dangerous birds known for completely ravaging their prey with their deadly talons and beaks. They were also known for having a particular taste for fairies.
Minerva swiftly proceeded to prod the Stachel, waking them up. Instantly, her comrades broke out into hysterics.
"Minerva, are you nuts?!" Bacchus shouted, his pudgy red face suddenly turning pale. Next to him, Echo was rendered speechless from shock, a first for her. Vesta had a look of disbelief on her face, stunned that Minerva would be so spiteful of Juno that she would risk being eaten by murderous birds just in the hopes that Juno might be eaten as well.
Have fun, little beast!" Minerva cackled as she instantly took off from the area before the Stachel noticed her presence, leaving Juno and the other fairies to the birds' hunger.
Juno was furious, to say the least. She knew Minerva was a dirty, vindictive devil of a fairy, but she never thought she'd actually try to get her - not to mention her own friends as well - killed for some petty argument. She desperately wanted to fly after her and personally shove her down one of the Stachel's throats, but she had no time before the three Stachel simultaneously crowed, letting out loud screeches as they swooped from their perch towards the unprepared fairies.
"EEEEEKKKK! Get away from me, eat Juno!" Echo cried as she fruitlessly tried to push one of the dangerous birds that was currently chasing her into attacking Juno. The bird just snapped its beak at her in an attempt to devour the little fairy, causing her to shriek in terror again.
The second bird was currently chasing both Vesta and Bacchus, who had unceremoniously passed out the moment the Stachel attacked, forcing Vesta to try to fly while carrying the plump fairy. She knew she couldn't avoid the bird for very long with Bacchus on her shoulders, but she couldn't just abandon him. Gritting her teeth, she continue to fly out of the bird's path as she searched for a safe location.
As for Juno, she was having even less luck. The bird that was following her was apparently the largest and swiftest of the birds, so trying to out-fly the thing was a true chore. As she nimbly dodged and weaved through the air, the bird only got closer and closer and closer. Dipping into a steep dive, she tried to outmaneuver her chaser, pulling out just before hitting the ground. To her dismay, the bird did the same, and in fact closed the distance between them even more.
Desperate, she tried to turn sharply around the tree, only for the bird to sharply pluck her out of the air by her wings. Pain shot through her spine as she let out a loud cry. The razor-like edges of the beak tore through her wings, shredding them painfully as she struggled to stay conscious.
"You're not going to eat me," she mumbled as she tried in vain to pry the Stachel's beak open, only succeeding in cutting her hands. Slowly, the bird began to pull on her wings, bringing her body even closer to being devoured. Realizing her hopeless situation, Juno began to sob, realizing she'd never gotten to make amends with Link. Even if they'd only met a few days ago, Juno felt as though he'd become the one person who ever truly looked at her as more than a problem - if only she'd get one last time to clear things up, to let him know that despite their fight, she still wished he would be her friend.
"I can't believe I'm going to die..." Juno whispered to herself, and she wondered to herself if Vesta and the others had escaped. Despite not liking them, she hoped they did; they didn't deserve to get eaten like this.
Just before the bird could pull Juno's body completely into its mouth, however, the bird's body twisted into an awkward angle. The next moment was punctuated by the bird's loud squawk, forcing it to drop Juno out of its beak. As she landed roughly on the ground, she writhed in pain for a brief moment before looking up to see why the Stachel had let her go.
To her great surprise, she saw that it had been knocked out of the air by a strangely shaped wooden object: a boomerang. It spun in an arc back to its owner's hand. Looking up to see who it was, Juno was shocked to see none other than Link standing there, shield in hand as he swatted at the bird chasing Echo.
"Are you okay Juno?" Link asked, concern lacing his tone as he looked at her shredded wings. "Your wings -"
"Watch out for the birds!" Juno shouted, cutting him off as one of the birds raked its talons across his arm, shredding through his flesh.
He hissed in pain, swatting the bird to the ground with his shield before it could cut him any deeper. As the other two birds instantly homed in him, Juno noticed that Link hadn't drawn his sword yet; in fact, he seemed to be avoiding dealing severe damage to the birds.
"Link, just take out your sword already!" Juno called out. Why in the world wasn't he trying to cut them down? What was he thinking?
"Weren't you just chewing me out a little while ago for needlessly killing innocent animals?" Link questioned as he knocked aside another one. "Make up your mind already."
Juno fell silent at this. Did he decide now of all times to listen to her advice? Did he not notice that the bird was trying to make a snack out her and the others?
Surprisingly, though, Link's tactics seemed to work, as the birds finally seemed to realize that getting hit by his shield was a bit too painful for their liking. They let out one last crow before flying off, sparing Link and the fairies. Letting out a wince of pain, Link leaned against the tree, cradling his shredded arm as it continued to bleed.
Juno gasped at the massive wound. "Link, your arm," she pointed to his arm in worry, but he simply waved his good arm in dismissal.
"I'm fine, Juno," he insisted stubbornly, though the little fairy was clearly not convinced. He was obviously struggling to keep his composure.
"You're not fine, you idiot!" Juno interjected, frustration growing in her voice. "Why are you so stubborn? You nearly got your arm torn off!"
Link gave her a serious look before speaking. "It's better that it's my arm than your life, Juno." Link then smiled weakly through his pain. "I'm not gonna let you die before you hear me apologize."
Juno was speechless. Link, apologize? She never realized just how caring Link could be. Suddenly, Juno realized she had no idea how Link even knew where to find her.
"How'd you even know I was in trouble, anyway?" she inquired, a curious look on her face. Her expression looked so childish Link couldn't help but chuckle slightly.
Pulling out the same bottle he had used to catch Juno, Link explained, "I was coming to find you to apologize for the way I acted, when I ran into this one," Link gestured toward the bottle, revealing none other than Minerva locked inside, a sour look on her face as she pounded fiercely on the walls of the transparent bottle. Link rolled his eyes. "And I thought you were bad. I take back all the mean stuff I ever said about you, this one's much worse than you could even hope to be."
Juno's jaw dropped. Link had managed to catch Minerva and save the rest of them at the same time; That certainly saved her the trouble of tracking the nasty fairy down. Juno smiled darkly at that thought, cracking her knuckles as she contemplated the various ways she could exact her revenge.
"Wow, so you saved us?" Bacchus called out, having apparently finally come to as he swooped over by Link. He gave Link a goofy grin, before awkwardly sticking out his hand. "Put 'er there! I'm the one 'n only Bacchus! You must be a truly kind soul to rescue a bunch of strangers."
Link furrowed his brow, discreetly avoiding shaking the male fairy's hand. "Well, actually I-"
"Yeah, you must be REALLY kind to save strangers like us!" Echo shot up next to Bacchus, giving Link a flirtatious look. "I'm Echo! And you are?"
"Link," Link stated flatly, not concerned with Echo or Bacchus in the least, "And actually, I was rescuing Juno."
Echo and Bacchus stared at him incredulously. "Juno?" they repeated, clearly in disbelief. "Why would you want to rescue a freak like her?" Echo rudely asked.
Juno would've flown up to beat Echo senseless if only her wings weren't shredded. However, she was ready to at least throw an insult back at her before Link beat her to the punch.
"Juno's my friend," Link retorted coldly, an icy look on his face, "And if anyone's a freak here, it's you. Juno's one of the most unique people I've ever met; all that's unique about you is that you copy everyone else. You're just a follower, a clone."
Echo was silent for a moment, before bursting into tears. "Th-that's so mean!" she blubbered in such a pathetic way that Link actually felt a little bad. "You're nothing but a meanie!" Without another word, she began to fly away. Bacchus gave Link a hard glare (or at least tried to; his fat face couldn't seem to pull off an angry look very well) before chasing after Echo.
"You know, you're really bad at being sensitive, Link," Juno deadpanned.
Link chuckled. "I guess, but I couldn't let them insult you. Only I can do that." Juno gave him another look, but ended laughing herself.
However, both of them simultaneously winced, forgetting their respective injuries.
Looking at Link's arm, Juno's worry instantly returned. "We've got to get you healed up, fast!" However, as she tried to stand up, the pain in her wings resurfaced, forcing her stumble back down.
"You need to get healed too, Juno," Link noted, "And your injury is probably worse than mine. You can't even stand."
"I'll be fine."
"No, you won't. Is there any way you can heal your wings?"
Juno shook her head. "Fairies can heal others, but not themselves. Also, their healing depends on how dangerous the wound is. The more severe the injury, the more magic that's taken."
"And you expect me to let you heal me knowing that?!" Link cried, taken aback. "This could just make your injuries worse, maybe even kill you!"
"Well if we keep arguing, neither of us will be able to be healed, so just shut up and let me heal you!" Juno demanded impatiently.
Link stubbornly refused. "Not until your own wounds are healed."
Juno groaned in frustration. "How am I even supposed to be healed, Link?"
"I'll do it," came a surprising voice. Juno turned around, and was surprised to see Vesta standing behind her, a concerned expression on her face.
"Why would you want to help me, Vesta?" Juno asked, remembering all the times Vesta just stood by as she was getting picked on and beat up. "You've never done so before."
"I know," she replied, looking guilty, "and I want to make up for that. I've always been too scared to approach you, to be your friend or to help you. I didn't want to be bullied like you, so I kept my mouth shut and tried to help you when no one was looking, but it never worked out the way I wanted it to." Standing behind Juno, she gingerly touched her wings, and instantly Juno could feel her pain and injuries slowly being removed. "But after what Minerva did, I'm done with her and the others," Vesta stated adamantly. As she finished healing Juno's wings, she turned Juno to face her, revealing a hopeful expression. "Juno, I know I'm probably one of the last people you'd want to have as a friend, but I want to be yours. So, if you ever need someone to be there for you, I'll be right here."
Juno was torn. On the one hand, she was still mad at Vesta for never standing up for her, but at the same time, she knew that if their roles were reversed, Juno would probably have feared ostracization just as much. And even though she never actually stood up for her, Vesta was still kind to her when they were alone, and even when others would pick on her, she wouldn't ever see Vesta join in.
"Sure, I guess you can be my friend," Juno tried to play it off casually, but was almost instantly knocked over by Vesta, who had tackled her into a hug.
"I promise I'll be a good friend to you, June," Vesta giggled as she spoke, "You can count on me."
Juno was startled by the action, as well as Vesta's new nickname for her, but nonetheless happily returned the hug.
"Sorry to interrupt the moment," Link piped up, a small smile lining his features, "But I still need my arm taken care of."
"Okay," Juno said, pulling away from Vesta and beginning to fly towards Link. "I'll get-"
"Actually," Link stated, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I have a better idea."
Juno raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
Link shook the bottle in his hand roughly, startling Minerva. "She's gonna do it. This'll be her punishment."
Instantly, an angry shout erupted from the bottle. "I most certainly will not!"
"Do you want to spend the rest of your days in that bottle?" Link threatened.
Minerva seemed to lose her fire from the this comment. "...No."
"Then do it," Link ordered. "And don't even think of running away; Juno's still probably got it out for you."
"You're right I do," Juno chirped, cracking her knuckles again threateningly.
Minerva gulped, before nodding. "Fine, I'll heal you. Just let me out already."
Link uncorked the bottle, and Minerva cautiously flew out, as if worried one of them might gut her if she took too long. Juno already had a murderous look on her face, and Vesta looked just as frightening. Heck, if it weren't for the fact that they were only the size of a grape, Link would've probably been terrified too.
Slowly, Minerva glided over Link's arm, and in an instant, her tiny hands began to glow, enveloping Link's upper arm in a faint light. Link could feel his skin regrowing, stitching itself back together. The whole process felt strangely soothing too, almost therapeutic. After about a minute, Link's arm felt as good as new.
"There," Minerva huffed, finally done with her chore, "Can I leave now?"
Link nodded, but before she could take off, Juno cut her off.
"What do you want, freak?" Minerva spat viciously. "I healed your friend. If it's an apology your after, then you're in for a rude -"
Before she could finish her statement, Juno socked her right in the nose, causing her to spin through the air before regaining her wits and righting herself.
"If you don't want to apologize to me, that's fine," Juno said evenly. "But if you have even a shred of honor and kindness in you, then you'd better apologize to everyone else. They're your friends, so endangering their lives just to get to me is a pretty poor thing to do. Apologize to them, not me." She threw one last glare over her shoulder before flying back to Link and Vesta. Minerva wasted no more time taking off, clutching her now broken nose as she flew away.
"So Vesta, are you going to tag along too?" Link asked as Juno settled herself into his cap.
Vesta smiled brightly, but shook her head. "Sorry, but I think one fairy's more than enough for you to handle," she joked. "I think I'll be heading back to the fountain."
"But Vesta, it's almost dark," Juno protested. "At least stay with us until morning; we wouldn't want anymore Stachel to attack without Link here to protect us."
Vesta smiled in defeat. "I suppose I'll stay with you guys for now, then," She stated, diving into Link's cap and sitting next to Juno.
Link smiled as he began to move back toward his destination.
"Oh and Link?" he could hear Juno say from inside his cap.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for saving me."
"That's what friends are for."
And there's the end! What did you think? I based the names of the fairies off of Roman deities like I did with Juno (with the exception of Echo, who was a nymph). The name Stachel is German for 'sting', which I felt was fitting for birds that could strip your flesh; it'd make sense their wounds would sting like hell (and there's my my bad pun of the chapter). Also, another small shout-out to Hoenn Master for helping to give me the idea for a better interaction between Juno and Link.
Don't worry folks, I'm literally almost done with the next chapter, so you can expect it before next week, hopefully. We're FINALLY going to see the first dungeon by next chapter, so I hope you all are ready.
Until Next Time,
~The Supreme~
PS: Anyone else enjoy E3 this year? I loved Nintendo's newest Zelda preview - the open world aspect has massive amounts of potential. Plus, Smash Bros finally announced Pac-Man and Palutena, both of which I'm glad to see appear. Heck, I even enjoyed Microsoft and Sony's press conferences: Sunset Overdrive has me hyped up quite a bit, same with Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and Metal Gear Solid V. Anyway, that's enough of my fanboying, adieu.
