Chapter 13: Awakening.

Arialk sat in the treetops, sheltering under the larger leaves as the rain continued to pour endlessly down. Things in the Deku palace were still in disarray, with guards running back and forth over the walls and through the city.

There had been no sign of Link or her bond mate amongst the madness. Had she been a fighter, she might have considered trying a third break in. With Kaepora Gaebora gone it was unlikely she could get far, even with her great speed. The only thing to do was wait.

At around three O'clock, the commotion in the kingdom seemed to have died down, guards were returned to their proper posts and the citizens emerged from their burrows. From her vantage point, Arialk could see the soldiers propelling something out of the city gates. She scurried down the trees and closer until she could make out Link, still in Deku form, lying face down on the jetty. Unlike the last time, the guards didn't bother opening fire on him; they stood still and silent, watching as he picked himself up and wandered to the edge of the pier. He didn't look back at the palace but jumped to the nearest lily pad and began rafting across the swamp in the direction of Woodfall.

"Hey," Arialk called as she swung down above Link's makeshift raft.

"Arialk you're alive!" Link called. It was hard to tell what emotion he was feeling at seeing her again. The only look he seemed to be capable of in that form was melancholy.

"Course I am. I kept the guards off you for as long as I could then escaped!" Arialk looked particularly proud of this achievement and wore a huge toothy grin. She looked back to the jetty and then at the morose Link and her smile quickly faded. "You didn't manage to free my bond mate, did you?"

Tatl the fairy lit up in annoyance. "Oh no, don't start that again, if Mr. Dum Dum hadn't been so stupid, we would've gotten your stupid monkey husband out just fine. Instead what does your flea brained mate and my brainless child do? They traded musical tunes with each other and got caught by the king."

Arialk cocked her head. "Tunes? You mean, Fraylo taught you the sonata that opens the Woodfall Temple. He knew it after all?"

Link nodded his head. "He said the Deku princess had become caught up in there and needed to be rescued." He looked down at his stubby little feet. "I don't know if this is in anyway helpful, but he was more concerned with helping save the Deku princess and aiding the Deku people than his own safety."

"Pfft, you would admire that wouldn't you!" Tatl teased on. "If you had just broken him free and ran he could have taught you the stupid song out here. Who knows, he could even have helped us in the temple itself."

Arialk swiped out a paw almost swatting the annoying fairy away. "Don't be so harsh! My bond mate's a real hero and so is Link here. They are both putting others before themselves and doing everything they can to help. The least you can do is give them a little recognition."

Tatl huffed and flew straight under Link's cap, ignoring the happy blush on the Deku boy's face at being complemented.

"Yeah, you run and hide!" Arialk jeered. "Link are you headed to the Woodfall Temple now?"

Link nodded.

"The entrance is a cave mouth near the top of a cliff. If you're still as light as you were at lunchtime, I could carry you to the top."

Malon was still weak. Standing was hard and walking was nearly impossible for her on two legs. She wobbled uncertainly and then collapsed back into the dirt. Another angry groan escaped her lips. "This is so stupid! How can I not remember how to walk on two legs?"

Ruto ran over and helped the girl back to her feet. "You'd been in that wolf form for some time, maybe your body just needs time to adjust to being human again."

Malon leaned on the Zora's damp shoulders and used her as support as she struggled to walk a few more paces. "I… I never thanked you for being there for me Ruto." She gritted her teeth as she concentrated on keeping her balance. "My memory of what happened is sketchy and I don't think I really want to remember it properly, but I do keep seeing flashes of you holding me, singing…"

"Hey!" Ruto barked in annoyance, "Don't be going off into some simpering, apologetic dream world. I'm trying to get you back on your feet here."

Malon smiled, "Sure thing Ruto."

In the treehouse, Nabooru was once again sat cross legged by Link's side watching over his and Saria's sleeping forms. Darunia was stood against the wall, still keeping an eye on the Happy Mask Man who was sat by his organ waiting for the order to play. Kaepora had roosted outside on a branch close to the window so he could see through and talk at his leisure.

"You said people in Hyrule were feeling the effects of Link's dream?" Nabooru asked looking out at the window.

"Indeed." The owl answered, shuffling down the branch a little closer to the window. "As far as catastrophes go, sleepless nights and bad dreams are hardly the worst thing the country has ever fared but the King has decreed a state of emergency and many Hylian's are on the prowl for some dark sorcerer they believe is responsible."

"Hmmph." Nabooru pursed her lips. "Better they believe in some fictional bogeyman than the truth. When Link wakes up from this we can never tell him the truth of what has happened here."

Kaepora cocked his head to the side. "I don't know if a lie will make him feel much better. If you were to tell him that Hyrule was attacked by some mysterious sorcerer while he was off alone he'd feel like he had let down the country by not being there."

"Stupid boy," Nabooru said, running her fingers through his golden hair. "I don't know which is worse: that most Hylian's believe it's up to someone else to solve all their problems, or that one Hylian boy believe it is up to him to solve everyone's."

"Are you tired?" Link asked as Arialk's climb began to slow. The Deku boy had been clinging to the monkey's back for well over an hour and he had noticed how her ascent had started to slow.

"I'm fine," Arialk said with laboured breaths. "I just need to take a break for a bit." Winding a vine around her paw she propelled herself off the cliff wall and swung back into the treelines, grappling onto the larger branches of a gnarled old tree. "This one has thick roots, we can rest here for a bit."

Link ran across the branch and looked down then back to the wall. "If I take off this mask and return to my human form, I'll have the strength I need to climb."

"Yeah, and you'll be too heavy for the vines to support you and you'll fall to your death." The monkey stretched its arms out, feeling her back click. "Let me worry about getting you up the cliff wall, you save your strength for the temple. After all, you can't be expected to do everything by yourself all the time."

Link looked at the bough he was standing on. Arialk was right: it'd snap in a moment if he became human again. "I do feel so useless though," he complained.

Saria grabbed a nut off of the tree and hurled it at the deku's head. The boy tottered a little, but he was in no danger of falling off. "That fairy of yours is right, you really can be block headed. Already you've broken into the Deku palace, learned the Sonata to rescue the Deku princess, and don't even get me started on what you must have gone through to get to the swamps in the first place."

"I never would have managed without your help though."

Saria rubbed her temples, she could feel a headache coming on. "And that's a problem? Are you saying I'm not allowed to try and make a difference or help you out? Do you want all the glory for yourself is that it?"

"No!" Link answered, appalled by the suggestion. "I just want to help people and make sure no one is hurt on my account. Your bond mate could be being boiled alive as we speak, how does that reflect on me."

Arialk tried to quash the image of her bond mate being tortured. "I'm sure that is precisely what my mate was thinking when he gave you the Sonata rather than escape. He was choosing to suffer so no one else would be hurt on his account. I think though, if someone wants to help and if they know the risks to themselves, you need to trust them with their decision."

Link sat down on the branch and looked at Arialk. "You let me know when you're ready to continue climbing, I can wait a bit."

Ruto took ten paces and stopped. "Okay," she called to Malon. Epona was stood by Malon's side, a pillar to lean on. Malon pushed away from the horse and started the ponderous walk towards Ruto.

Ruto was like a tiger mother, forcing Malon to find her feet quickly and not letting up when she stumbled. At several points, Malon had wanted to tear out her hair in frustration, but Ruto would just mocked and brow beat her until all Malon wanted was to prove to the Zora what she was made of. It was a cruel form of parenting but effective. She made the first four steps slowly and she could feel her weight beginning to totter: to push her forwards.

"You're going to have to pick up the pace, unless you want to fall on your pretty face for the tenth time."

Malon winced as she made her fifth step. She needed to shut that Zora up. She put her right foot forward again quickly to prevent herself from over balancing. Her left foot had to go even quicker. With each new step she had to increase her momentum to stop from dropping. She made it nine steps and then stumbled into Ruto's waiting arms.

"That was only nine!" Ruto scolded.

Malon fixed the princess with a sour look. "I count ten. I get a bonus one for running the last few."

Ruto chuckled as she helped ease Malon back onto the floor. "I deducted two for failing to follow instructions, I said walk ten steps not run half."

Malon chuckled as she tried wriggling her toes again. "You're a real toad you are!"

Ruto batted her shoulder playfully, "I forgive your insubordination…you've been through a traumatic experience and can't be held responsible for your foul language."

Malon laughed again. She continued to practice wriggling her toes to help get the feeling back into them. "Hey, Ruto…" she said as the felt the wetness on the grass. "…Did it rain while I was unconscious, the grounds really boggy all of a sudden?

Ruto let her hand push on the grass and recoiled as she realised the ground had become a quagmire. "Eww gross! We need to get you into the tree house." Ruto stood and felt the ground sink a little beneath her from her weight. "Ahh!" she screamed as she sank up to her ankles. "Darunia, Nabooru, Help!"

The sun had set by the time Arialk's paws pulled her and her wooden boy up onto the cave mouth. "I told you we'd make it," she panted triumphantly. Her arms and legs were screaming to be given rest.

"I think it's about time I gave you the piggy back," Link said. Putting his hands to his face he began to pull away the mask that had him in Deku form. He stretched, and yawned.

"Don't you think it's a bit late? Shouldn't we maybe make a camp here for the night?"

Link picked Arialk up, carrying her now small frame in his arms like a baby. "We're too close to the temple. We must rescue the princess as soon as possible. There aren't many hours left."

Saria didn't protest as Link carried her small body and jogged down the cavern.

The companions emerged to a new precipice overlooking a giant lake of that same poisoned water that had pervaded the entire swamp.

"The temple is below the water," Arialk said. "It might ne a bit hard to see with the purple grime though."

Link peered down. "Your Fraylo told me the Sonata of Awakening will bring the temple up to me. I guess it's worth a go." Grabbing his Ocarina, he blew gently on it sending out notes that were almost immediately eclipsed by a deep rumbling from the earth.

A single tree that stood above the lake of filth began to rise up, its roots emerging from the waters as the ground beneath it surfaced. The lake churned and waves crashed all around as the Woodfall temple rose out from its watery bed, its large cavernous door yawning open for the one who called it to enter.

"There's no bridge." Saria said looking at the great divide that still separated them from the temple.

Link shook his head. "There's a way across right here," he said, nodding to the giant flower pod the Deku used for aerial transport. "This is their temple after all, it makes sense that they'd ensure they're the only one's who can enter."

Arialk gritted her teeth, she knew the answer to her next question before she asked it. "Those flowers you fly on, can they take two people?"

Link looked grimly at the monkey. "I'm not trying to use this as an excuse to shoo you away, but I really couldn't get us both across the divide and time is short here."

Arialk nodded. "I guess you really do have to be the hero now then. I'm not leaving this spot though. You hurry up in that temple because I'm going to be right here making sure you get back out alive."

Link put the Deku mask back on. He didn't scream as much this time…the transformations were becoming more bearable. In this smaller state he gave the monkey a hug. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

As link catapulted onto the air and started to helicopter toward the temple, Saria felt her mind beginning to drift away from Arialk the monkey. She could not be sure if the dream monkey could understand or even know what was going on but as she drifted away she whispered. "Please keep our promise to him, little monkey. We'll get our Bond Mate home safe."

Saria sat upright and blinked as the Restful Mask fell placid into her lap.

"Darunia, Nabooru, Ruto, Malon!" she shouted to the other. "I'm awake, I'm out."

Nabooru turned round and looked at Saria like she was of no significance. "Oh…good, that's good. I don't think any of us want to be asleep right now."

Saria looked around her, she was lying on an old stone floor, ancient and damp like it had recently risen from some fetid bog. "Where are we, what's going on here?"

"That's what we need to ask him," the Gerudo replied.

Saria followed her line of sight. Link, the real Link, was stood up, sword and shield in hand. He was looking about him, searching, questing for something: searching through the glowing orange eyes of Majora's Mask.

Author's Notes.

Woodfall temple here we are! We are near the end of the first act folks, assuming the group can keep their wits together to help guide Link through a dungeon that seems to be leaking into the real world.

Thanks as always for reading, thank you to those of you taking the time to leave reviews and giving your thoughts on the uncovering story.

Hope to see you all next chapter.