[A/N: Damnation, seems to have a problem where it's not noticing my asterisks any more. Can you see this? asterisk whee hee more asterisks. Now, I'll just use dashes to separate scenes... –grumbles-]
Chapter 19: Plight of the Bumbling Fairy
Reza grimaced at the foul concoction Link deposited in front of her. It frothed, it twirled, it stank like heck and was of a nasty green colour (imagine mucus). Warily, she picked it up and examined it from the side of the vial.
"Well, drink it." Link said, pouring an entire pot full of it into flasks.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Reza said, disgustedly turning her head away from taking a sniff.
Malik had gone to forage some wood while Reza and Link stayed to set up camp. Link had decided that fixing Navi up would be the first priority, so with Reza packaging as many tomes and scrolls about weaponry onto her horse, they left the Fortress. To prevent aggravation of her stomach injury, Malik and Link chose to go by foot while she went on horse to keep the speed slow.
It was a pity Epona only allowed Link and Malon to ride her, for that would have given them a quicker journey by letting Reza ride her. Instead, Malon rode forth as a scout, picking out flatter grounds nearer to trees for shade and stability, also for wood.
With a wince Reza finally swallowed, grimacing and face discolouring from the taste. She coughed slightly, shuddered at its feeling in her stomach and then lay back.
"I think I would rather deal without it." She groaned, staring at the sky with hopes of the pain going away.
"Well, you'll have to tough it for a while, because you're going to be drinking it for a long time." With that Link gestured to the flasks stored with the drink inside. "It promotes healing at least, and within a week you should be able to take off those bandages."
"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, replaying the fight in her mind, "damn, I wish I knew how the Blacks did it."
Link raised an eyebrow at this, "Blacks? What did they do?"
"To us we just call them as the Black, but to others its Gerudo Assassins, or Ghosts. Nabooru started that group around three years ago, slightly after she was in control. They have a special trick of becoming transparent, and while transparent they can go through anything, as anything can go through them."
"Whoa." Link muttered, surprised. "I didn't know you guys knew how to do that. Makes sense why they're called Ghosts."
"We don't, only Nabooru does. She just picked the best of the best and trained them on how to use their spirit to do what they do. There are only two dozen people who know how to do it, however." Reza nodded after a moments thought.
"How come they didn't help fight? Such a skill would have definitely helped." Link questioned, thinking of all the ways they could have solidified suddenly when passing through the Dark Copies and ripping apart ribcages. Shuddering, he banished the thought.
"It's still an experimental group. And Nabooru can only hold it for half a minute at best and everyone's worse than she is. Also, they can't use weapons and have to wear skimpy clothing. That makes it rather obvious where their precious organs are." Reza noted factually, frowning a bit as her stomach cramped.
"Did I hear someone say skimpy clothing?" A voice said from above. Hopping off the tree, Malik landed with his legs just to the side of Reza's face, causing her to go cross-eyed for a second. "I got some wood." Before she could damage his in any way, he quickly hopped away – and just in time, as her hand went up in a half-hearted grab.
"Do that again and I'll be the one causing your impotence, Blue boy." Reza growled out, waving a knife vaguely in the air.
Malik squeaked, dropped the branches he was carrying on a sleeping Navi (scaring the daylights out of Link) and climbed back up the tree.
Panicking Link shoved all the branches aside in his haste to pull Navi out of there. His fears were unfounded thankfully, as the branches supported themselves above her. For all the excess energy she had been given, she continued to snore.
"I wasn't heading back to the Kokiri forest for her to get injured, Malik," Link gruffly said, gently cradling Navi to his shoulder, "it was rather more for the reason to cure her."
Malik squeaked again and nodded from the foliage he was hiding in.
"Sorry... so what was that I heard about skimpy clothing?" Malik apologised, hoping that his question would detract Link's silent fury. Link for one thing didn't express much with his voice, Malik concluded, but his eyes... The spectrum ranged from merciful and compassionate to cruel and furious.
Reza rolled her eyes at Malik's obvious attempt. Nevertheless, she continued. "It takes a lot of energy to force your body into something less physical – I think Nabooru used a fancier word than that – and even though it doesn't take much more to bring stuff with you, it takes a lot more control. So much, in fact, that you'll be paralysed to the spot just trying to maintain the state, your entire mind devoted to that act. Someone once tried it, and stopped breathing."
The silence from that was broken only by the rustling of the grass.
And Malik falling from the tree as Epona crashed by.
"Hi guys!" Malon cheerily said, dismounting from Epona and accidentally trampling on Malik. "There's a bit of turf over there that has some good shade and it has a small stream flowing by for water!"
There were only two main rivers in Hyrule – the Zora River, and the Gerudo River that flowed into Lake Hylia. That was probably why the population was so sparse, Link mused, with only two main sources of water. But there were other rivers, though their size was comparable to a stream.
Link briefly wondered why the Goddesses built Hyrule so. Surely if they wanted the population to rise, there would be more rivers and tributaries to cover the fields. The grass lived solely because of the nearly daily rain and the Ranch did because of a well which had to go over fifty metres down to extract water (it was no wonder Ingo was a bit grumpy, needing to reel around 100 metres just for a bucket of water).
Ah well, Link decided, not my problem. The Goddesses probably were worried about population control.
"Whoa dude," Navi breathed, staring over Link's shoulder, "check those waves."
The waves in question were really the ripples on the stream. They were nothing special, but in Navi's drunken state a rock playing dead would have amused her. Quickly Malik collected some water in a pan to boil, and just as fast Malon was ready to knock him in.
"Would you please stop doing that?" Malik spluttered, wiping his sopping wet hair away from his eyes. Grumbling he hauled himself out.
"Sorry," Malon said with the decency to look embarrassed, "it's just that doing stuff like that gets rather addictive, if you know what I mean. I don't know what possessed me."
"Neither do I," Malik muttered to himself, "and I'd like to keep it that way."
"The pan is floating away." Reza pointed out helpfully.
With a curse Malik ran off to grab the pan, plotting revenge as he did so.
-
Navi awoke with a start, feeling the pains you'd expect from a hangover. However, she didn't get the sometimes unwanted sensation of proper thought as well, stumbling around in Link's palm and blearily looking around.
The few thoughts that went through her mind were going along the lines of: damn, that some mean juice.
Her vision paused for a moment when she looked at Malon. Peering from her vantage point, it appeared that she had some little black horns sticking out of her head. Slapping herself did nothing to dispel the vision.
So that could only mean...
"Back, vile cretin, back!" yelled Navi as she suddenly surged from Link's hand, rushing at her impressive full charge pace (in her pained state, it was along the speeds of a sloth) right at Malon's face. Everyone turned to stare at her, with Malon blinking as Navi started slapping her forehead.
From her perspective Navi could see a dark being lurch out of Malon and the horns disappearing. Charging up her fist with the excess energy still residing in her, Navi threw a sloppy punch at the little black globe, which dispelled it from her vision.
"Damn evil sprites," she muttered, hovering back to Link despite everyone staring at her, "them and their stupid prank jokes."
Padding in circles on his palm, she curled up like a cat and returned to her snoring.
"Ok..." Malon said, rubbing her forehead, "that was a bit unexpected."
"Evil minds lurk throughout the land," Navi muttered out in her sleep, "casting their sight upon those that bask without."
Link paused at that, raising an eyebrow. Hopefully Navi was just being a bit light-headed and delusional. It wouldn't do if she suddenly became a prophet of doom.
Hopefully.
-
Later on when they fully finished setting up camp Malik returned with the pan, sopping wet with bits of algae caught in his hair (sending Reza into spasms of laughter gripping her stomach, which turned out to be quite the unwise move), a fish sticking out of his pocket the pan in one hand and splinters in the other with his eyes burning with fevered fury.
"This place is cursed, I tell you." He grinded out between the yelps from plucking the splinters. "Some things kept running into me from mid-air and knocking me back into the river. So when I fall in, one of them dive in and mash my face against the ground. The indignation! And after when I finally grabbed the pan, those things lifted my legs out of the water, so I had to grasp onto a branch to prevent myself from drowning! This place is cursed!"
Reza nodded silently. Gazing from her position at a tree base, she could almost see a few silhouettes tagging along and following Malik. They were extremely vague and whenever she concentrated on them they disappeared.
"Perhaps when Navi said something about evil sprites, she was right." She stated, trying to see past the veil protecting whatever it was following Malik.
Link munched on that thought for a while. "Do you think sprites are just like fairies?"
"In the Desert our lore on the mystical is limited to spirits, souls and ghosts. I have no clue on how sprites even look like."
"Ha!" Malik suddenly bounced up, accidentally slamming his cranium into an overhanging tree branch. After groaning and patting his neck and skull, he continued in a more subdued tone, "The Sheikah beat you on that then. Our knowledge spans across from the promising future of science to the wondrous tale of mythology from the past. We have recorded all, analysed all, and understood all." Chuckling and looking as pompous as one with a battered head could, he puffed at his nails. "Something as minor as differences between sprites and fairies is trivial to us."
Reza blinked, rubbed the earwax out of her ear and blinked again. "So... what are the differences?"
Malik shrugged. "No one accused me of paying attention in class."
She groaned, slapping her hand to her forehead and muttering about idiots. Link shook his head. "I'll take a gamble then."
Rifling through his pouch, Link plucked out his Great Fairy mask. Wriggling his fingers, he concentrated to unseal the bonds he placed before wearing it. As deceptively harmless the mask could look – all it did was alter your scent and aura slightly to a more fairy-like one, if it was in the hands of a fairy hunter, it would be extremely dangerous. So every mask had a seal.
Peering through the mask, Link ignored Malik's laughs at wearing a 'girly looking mask' and Reza's almost stupefied and incredulous look and searching for the sprites. One additional gift he never told anyone about the Great Fairy mask was that it also allowed you to detect fairies, so it did look weird with a boy in green wearing a red coloured mask with floating sparkling hair.
The first thing that caught his 'fairy detector' was Navi, her being the closest of course. That was a problem that Link had to keep ignoring as he usually always had a fairy partner nearby. But looking past her and near some bushes, there were seven globes of purple light that appeared to be... giggling?
Link blinked and took off his mask. Gesturing for Reza to get up, he strode towards the area he saw them last, holding a ward written by the Palace librarian. The etchings on the sheet of paper looked like a four year old discovering crayons, and the ward exuded no magic at all, but it did make a good luck charm. It would have, at least, if he wasn't intending to set it on fire.
There was a myth on how running water cleansed evil from a person or object and how fires scared away evil from approaching, as some fire god (goddess?) declared death to all forms of darkness that encroached too close. Link didn't actually believe in them, for he fought enough monsters in the water temple and fire temple to know fire and water did jack, but it didn't hurt to put that extra faith into the supernatural.
"I know you seven are there," Link whispered to himself, applying a bit of Din's magic to the ward, "so show yourselves!"
His reply was giggling and then something forcefully tugging his ankle, making him trip. Groaning, Link rubbed his head and got back up, forgetting the smouldering ward next to the bushes.
"So that's how you want to play things, uh?" Link growled, eyes narrowing and charging Din's fire to surround him as an aura. Malon and the rest were surprised to see a red corona morph into existence around him, but Malik was quick to pick up a mask in hopes of tracking down those sprites.
As he donned the masks, however, Malik noticed something different about Link. For one thing, Link's emotions were all jumbled up: just a moment ago he was calm and wary, now he was furious and getting narrow-minded. The other thing was the foreign flavour he sensed.
Reading emotions isn't the easiest thing to do inside another person's mind. Simpler than reading their minds altogether, yes, but due to its vagueness emotion reading is hard to actually understand. Unlike what most people believed, emotions weren't stated like words to be read; being so complex that actually attempting to read it as such would take far too long. Rather, they were more along the lines of colours mixed together. Malik however thought of them more as tastes and chose to identify them by that. If there was a foreign taste that meant...
"Hey Link! Snap out of it!" Malik shouted at him, quickly assembling his legs into running form, "I think these things possess on touch!"
As expected of someone with an external mind working against him, Link hardly noticed what Malik said. He did however notice that sudden weight on his back and a fist repeatedly slamming itself on his cranium.
"Idiot." Reza groaned, shaking her head at the display. "He can't even remember that Link was on fire."
That mistake was soon corrected, Malik squealing in pain and flinging himself into the stream.
Reza slapped her forehead and sighed. 'Blue Boy didn't even look to see which patch of the had less stones.' With an internal sigh of shame, she settled comfortably at the tree base, choosing to watch the drama unfold instead of exerting herself to help. She was injured, anyway, and Link can take care of himself, and Malik knows what he's doing.
Reza paused at that last string of thought before reversing her decision.
Back where Link was, the red halo surrounding him vanished mainly due to the pounding headache he suddenly received. Wondering briefly why Malik had to be so brutal in his remedies, he quickly placed his thoughts back towards the evil sprites that Navi stated there were. The Great Fairy mask however revealed their departure, although they seemed to still be giggling, mocking him and jeering in their silent demeanour.
Shrugging it off as an attitude problem of theirs, Link turned to report his findings-
-to have a bedraggled face mopped with blue hair stare at him up close.
"Guys, the sprites le– Farore!" Link swore, startled by the sudden image of Malik's face.
"Pain," Malik moaned, clawing at Link's shirt as he slowly fell to his knees, "Nayru help me I'm in pain..."
"I can see that," Link grunted, trying to dislodge Malik's hands, "there's not much I can – hey, leggo of me!"
"Pain!" Malik suddenly shot up, raising his index finger to the skies and nearly slamming his fist into Link's jaw, "Oh, the pain!" After that he slumped back onto the ground, squeaking from the impact.
While Link was busy trying to drag Malik (who often suddenly spouted his present condition) back to the shade, Reza was busy scooping soil onto a bush.
"Link," Reza growled from irritation as she started flinging the soil instead, "your magical fire, how long does it burn?"
Link shrugged, trying to shake off Malik's grip to his ankle, "It depends – usually only a few seconds on an animal or animated thing, though it can burn for quite a long time on torches and dead plants. Why?"
"You seem to have dropped that piece of paper you was carrying."
Link paused in a moment of recollection. "What piece of paper?"
"The one you set on fire?"
"Ugh... the pain..." Malik moaned in the silence as Link digested that bit of information.
"Damn, that's bad." Quickly he kicked Malik off and rushed to help pour the soil in hopes to stop a larger spread of the fire.
Sweat rolled down Reza's forehead from the heats of the fire as it progressively got bigger. The large scoops of dirt being dumped onto it didn't seem to slow it down the slightest, and were it to persist there would be a forest fire that would grow out of scope, dealing more damage than its present form of a roasting bush.
Reza finally gave up on dumping soil on the bush. Instead, she knocked Link away, flattened it by beating it with her hands, and throwing her faith and life in the hands of the gods, rolled over the fire.
Link could only stare in shock at what Reza was doing. He knew that he said that the fires didn't last long on living things, but what Reza was doing was near suicide. Getting back to his feet, he rolled Reza out of the flames before they did any permanent damage. The good thing was that the fire did go out.
"What are you, crazy?" Link yelled at her, shaking her shoulders lightly as Malik slugged his way to the stream to get the water Link requested. The burns were nothing serious, but the bandaging of her stomach wound had been badly burnt, luckily not fusing to her skin, and the wound had opened slightly from the scrubbing against the sharp edges of the bush, and to top it off her arms were scorched and scratched from the whole experience.
"You were injured when you did that! Why on Earth did you do that, anyway? Sure, it worked, but I'm sure it must have hurt!"
Reza waved off his concern, nodding in thanks when Malik deposited the pan of water in front of her. "Relax Link. I'm from the Desert and so more used to high temperatures than you are. Besides, that fire skill I get from drawing off your power has made me used to flames. The only real damage I've taken is when ripping up my bandages and maybe my hands as well."
Link wringed his hands in frustration as Malon helped Reza by rubbing a soaked sponge across the burnt skin. Dropping his hands in defeat, he mumbled a message along the lines of "don't do that again" before plodding himself next to Malik. Navi crawled out of his pocket soon after that, choosing to enjoy basking in the sun over resting in a squashed up area.
"I can see stars." Navi remarked, pointing to the clear blue sky. Ignoring the confused look Link gave her, she continued, "They swirl in circles, always spinning. Never stopping, those stars keep moving. What are they turning around though?" As she delved deeper into her own thoughts, Link chose to tune her out, thinking about the present problems.
Fighting was a common theme that happened all over Hyrule; it didn't matter if it was as petty as a heated disagreement between to shoppers or something as important as the battle he had against Ganon he had a few years back – or a few years ahead, depending on how you thought of it. The most common ones they had however were the night time run-ins with the Stalchids and the odd deformed creature or two (more commonly known as monsters, but Link had different ideas on what a monster truly was). In that aspect, Reza could not fight, and would be in theory be defenceless should there be a more serious commotion. The fact that she rolled over the magic of Din's Fire didn't help any.
That spell was like an arrow: once released, it knows no difference between friend and foe. The only protection from it would be to be on the right side when it was cast, and for the Din's Fire, that would be inside before it erupts and even then magical protection was needed. For a short period of time, the Fire would be self-sustaining, needing no fuel, but it was even worse if there was something to burn, like the shrubbery that Reza had previously rolled over. No matter what Reza said about being accustomed to fire, it must still have hurt (and a sideward glance at her wincing each time the sponge scrubbed a slightly red area proved it), and with her injuries Link wouldn't risk her heading into battle, and to prevent that the best way would not to engage in it at all.
Mentally calculating when the sun will set and the distance from their position to the entrance of the Kokiri Village, Link decided that if they could get their before night arrived, at the very least Reza could rest in the Village while he went to get help with Navi. To get there in time would mean...
"Hey Malik, I bet that my horse would be a lot faster than yours." The only way to get there in time would be to dash across. So why not have some fun?
"Ha! This Kakariko breed might look a bit chubby... actually; I've been feeding it too much – but nonetheless! My horse is one of the sturdiest of the horse races in my town! They were the pee wee leagues really, but still..." Malik trailed off mumbling. Link sighed, watching as Malik's words spiralled down getting more degenerative as it went. Best to challenge his pride a bit.
"In fact, I'm sure Epona would be a lot faster with both me, Reza and my equipment than yours would be with both you and Malon with the other horse as backup." Actually, Link wasn't sure that Epona would even allow Reza to ride her, but hopefully with Link around she would be a bit more accepting to the new rider.
"You're on!" Malik hopped to his feet, packed the gear and accidentally splashing Reza with the remaining water, apologised as he stole the pan and sponge and in less than a minute, prepared his own horse and Malon's. "Whoever gets to the entrance first wins!" he yelled at Link as he grabbed Malon in a fireman carry and launched himself onto the horse, leaving behind Epona, a dazed Link and a soaked Reza.
"No respect, that's what." Reza grumbled. "Wait till I find the reason why he did that and I'll wring his neck."
Link chuckled nervously, hoping that she won't find out he was the reason. "Eh heh, sure. Let's go, shall we?"
-
To their fortune the only thing Epona disliked about Reza was the amount of water she was dripping, but thankfully allowed Reza to ride with Link. A bit of speed had to be sacrificed for a smoother ride, so after listening to Malik's gloating on beating him and Malon's addition that it was her at the reins, Link managed to get to the Great Deku Tree.
"Hallo Markus!" Navi suddenly spouted when Link reached the Tree. "It's great to see you again! How's your holiday in the sewers?"
The Great Deku Tree raised an eyebrow. "When you said she was a bit excited, I did not think it'll be this... excitable." Nonetheless, he was still amused with Navi's ramblings. She continued on talking about how raspberries did not make good toilets for a while.
"Well, is there any way to fix this? Volvagia had suggested waiting it off, but I really don't feel like handling her in this state for a few months." Link asked.
The Tree mulled it over for a bit. "Well, did she do anything vigorous lately?"
"Well, someone told me she cast a spell called 'Faerie Fire' earlier on in the desert, and has been a bit more subdued since then. Earlier today she spotted a bunch of sprites and removed one from possessing a friend of mine."
If it were not rooted to the ground and had appendages, the Great Deku Tree would have shrugged and paced. "Well, I am under the assumption that using up that energy would help clear her mind. Perhaps she is willing to rejoin the fairy training program? While she passed her first one, these things often take two to three days of continuous magic usage, so it might help."
"No! Never! Not that!" Navi screamed, floating towards the Great Deku Tree. "Don't ever use a comb for plumbing!"
Link blinked, wondering at the relevance. "I think she said yes."
So within three hours of preparation, Navi had been dragged by other fairies, kicking and screaming about the usage of soap, to the entrance of the training centre. The entrance looked more like a fanciful birdhouse, positioned high on one of the pillars that were connected by bridges. Being so high up it was often in the mercy of rain and sun and was therefore bleached to match the colour of the pillar it resided on.
"Traitors, every one of them are traitors." Navi grumbled to herself. While here she was, working her head off for three straight days, Link and the rest would bask in the lap of luxury, being fed every delicacy the forests had to offer. "Wretched traitors wouldn't even pack me some food." She decided to ignore the fact that none of them knew how to store food in thimble sized containers.
Dejectedly she kicked a monument that was meant to pray to Nayru. Feeling a bit better at the show of aggression, she continued to kick, and kick, and then punch, and punch, and altogether throw a tantrum...
... Until the monument broke.
"Eh? Why do they make such important stuff out of wood nowadays? It breaks so easily." Chuckling to herself, she started whistling nervously as she drifted down the spiralling staircase. Hopefully she'll be gone before anyone realised it was broken. Heck, if she was lucky maybe Nayru herself won't notice!
Navi wondered for a moment why there were stairs in the first place. Every fairy used their wings to get anywhere, so what was the point of having something for feet?
-
To be frank, Malik and Reza's welcome weren't all that warm and encouraging. It was more scary and repelling. It mainly involved a bunch of people half a head shorter poking you. Since they weren't given the chance before, the Kokiri children kept asking questions on where they came from for such peculiar hair colours, if they were worried about becoming a Stalfos if they made the mistake of entering the Lost Woods, why Reza had bandages and so on. A few asked Link why last time he walked in without a fairy and walked out with one, and now walked in with a fairy and walked out without.
After answering as many questions as they were willing and capable of, they managed to enter Link's abode: a tree house.
"Welcome to my glorious home." Link said proudly, gesturing to the room. For a house, it had the most basic of utilities: a bed directly opposite the door, a table and stool in the centre of the room, a toilet system in the far corner and directly opposite that a sink with a bunch of cups and bowls. Compared to the houses of Kakariko, Castletown and the living domains of the Fortress and the Ranch, the 'house' was the barest form of living condition they saw.
"Awfully... empty," Malon pointed out, trying to be as nice about it as possible, "I thought you would have more stuff around here."
"Awfully small," Malik added on, needing only needing six steps to cross from one end of the room to the other, "not much to do he– ow!" He was quickly interrupted by Malon and Reza elbowing him in the ribs.
Link shrugged, although looked slightly sheepish. "Most of the Kokiri don't have any real care of staying at home, unless it rains. When I was with them we always played outside, ate together outside, scavenged for food together outside and pretty much did everything together outside. The houses were really more of a place to sleep, although Mido's house duplicates as a meeting hall when it rains." Continuing on his voice became slightly more nostalgic, a smile adorning his face, "although I can see what you mean by empty. I'm imagining that while I was away everyone else saw to looting my house. All in good fun, of course." His face darkened at that thought.
Reza nodded. She could understand doing everything together, as the Gerudo also lived in quite a close society as well. Those things happened, especially if you lived in the isolated deserts. "Well, when would Navi finish her training course?" she asked, glancing at the children outside playing tag.
"And when would we get to eat?" Malik added on, staring off into space as he imagined roasted boar, fried eggs and all the fruits the forests had to offer.
"It better be in good fun," Link muttered darkly, ignoring what Malik and Reza said, "it better be." He then surveyed his room with the attention of an eagle, mentally noting down what was missing before crawling under the table. Everyone stared at him for a moment as he dragged out a chest that was hiding there, and started scrounging through it.
"Ah, I guess we're not eating now then?" Malik queried disappointedly, a petulant frown on his face. Link's answer:
"Good grief, they robbed me flat!" He turned around, murder glowing in his eyes, and they widened further as he noticed something. "My blanket! They even stole my blanket!"
Growling, he got back to his feet and adorned a forced smile that kept twitching. "Please, enjoy whatever services that haven't been nicked, but I'm off to fetch my items back." Climbing down the ladder, Reza could hear him still grumble, "my blanket, I'm going to throttle whoever took my blanket!"
-
Finally reaching the reception hall, as Navi liked to call it, she raised her nose pompously as trainee fairies glided by, often giving way for her. Might as well act the senior, after all, as there were probably only three fairies above her in the pecking order. Strutting as well as a person could do without feet touching the ground, Navi hovered over to a sofa and after scaring a rookie away, plonked herself onto it with a relaxed sigh.
Ah well, the training couldn't be that bad, if they finally installed the sofas.
"By Nayru, aren't you a sorry sight to behold." A grouchy voice rumbled behind her. One eye looking up, she almost groaned at who she saw.
"Good morning Sergeant Shael. I am pleased to meet you. I am willing to study under the wings of both you and Sergeant Hale. I will follow the appropriate conduct you have designated for all trainees to follow. I will strive for the best–" Navi's monotone droning was cut off as Shael whacked her with a paper fan, his version of a cane.
"Oh hush up; we've received message that you're presently... intoxicated. No matter, I have personally devised a training regime for you to follow that will efficiently, effectively and most certainly purge and cleanse your body of the excess and redundant mana. Providing you follow the strict regulations and rules I have applied in accordance to the situation, you might find... you're not listening, are you?" He sighed exasperatedly as Navi blinked in confusion and rubbed the earwax out
"You said something, doc? I was just reliving the memories of listening to you rant. And boy, do you rant." She suddenly peered at his face closely, unnerving him at the close proximity.
He quickly wiped out all traces of looking startled however as Hale entered. While most fairies glow white with a cheerful pink or purple, all of them could alter that additional colour tint to whatever situation. As Navi had done before, she had on multiple occasions' glowed yellow as she yelled to Link information about whatever monster he was fighting and green when just explaining and pointing stuff out. Hale however always radiated green, being the walking library that she was. She was the only fairy that did so, and the only fairy that wore glasses too.
"Good day to you Navi." Hale said briskly as she inclined her head in greeting. She did not spare Navi the time to respond in kind as she flew off to help some fairies in their studies. Or to the library – she seemed to only do those two things.
"Wow, as chatty as ever." Navi said. "No wonder she never became a fairy partner."
Shael was about to give Navi a sharp reprimand on respecting authority when in front of authority, but he lost that moment as Navi was suddenly bowled over as a pink glowing buzz slammed right into her.
"Hello o buddy o pal o friend o pal o buddy! Great to see you again! How was life outside the Forest? Is it scary? Is it dangerous? You've got much to tell us! I'm sure even Hale would appreciate the stuff you could tell her!" the animated bubble of speech (a.k.a. Ko the Fairy) chattered into Navi's back.
"Damn, as chatty as ever." Navi wheezed out through Ko's death grip. "No wonder she never became a fairy partner. Good to see you again, Ko."
Shael rolled his eyes at the display of affection. Chuckling lightly at some private joke, he continued, "You might be delighted to know that on some sections of your course Ko will join you as well. Since you two know each other well enough, I believe I won't be needed to go through the preliminary discipline and courtesy rules."
"Cool, you heard that Navi? We get to train together!" Ko jumped up and did a fancy pirouette while Navi was still attached in her arms.
"Damn, I heard that. Now we get to train together." Navi moaned out, falling to the floor while waiting for the world to stop spinning.
-
It could easily pass as watching a comedy, as far as Reza, Malon and Malik were doing. They passed along a bowl full of salted nuts, each with lemonade by their sides as they watched Link reclaim what was his. A painful comedy by far, but it's still comedy nonetheless.
"Hello Link! Do you want to play tag with us?" One cheerful kid waved Link over.
No one would have suspected that he'll be grappled into a submission hold, with Link being all sunny and smiles. "Sure but first," his eyes narrowed evilly as his voice became more menacing, "blanket?"
"Ah, right, your blanket. Um, she took it!" The boy sweated out.
"What, your blanket? No, she took it!" The accused girl defended.
"Blanket? Nope, not me. He took it!" She replied airily, flicking her finger towards another boy.
"I took no one's blanket! He did!" He scowled, giving a sharp glance towards a boy playing boxing.
"It wasn't me! She did!" He hastily replied, kicking in the direction of a dancing girl.
"I stole nothing from you! He took your blanket!" She said in between her moves, pointing back to the boy in Link's hold.
"Ah, right, your blanket. Um, she took it!"
"What, your blanket? No, she took it!"
"Blanket? Nope, not me. He took it!"
Link sighed as this volleyed on for another four or five rounds, everyone adamant in their accusations and defence. It soon became a contest of volume, with the logic that whoever was loudest was right.
-
After leading Navi down another dozen stairways (and ignoring her complaints on needing stairs), Shael led her to a boxing ring. A few fairies were training on it, although to Navi who had seen true combat, their efforts were paltry in comparison.
"... You're kidding, right?" Navi said flatly, looking at the sparring fairies. "I have to train with them?"
Shael raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "Worried that they'll be too much for you?"
Navi laughed insanely at that, rolling on the floor as she gripped her sides. That was only for a moment, for she immediately stood up and replied flatly, "No. I could probably clean all their clocks when it's them all against me, even if you're fighting as well." The last time she sparred against Shael, she ended up with a bruised nose, a dislocated knee and purple all over (the skin, not the glow). Now, after watching everyone else fight and doing some fighting of her own when she was away, she was sure that he'll end up in a poor state.
"I'll like to take you up on that offer." If it didn't help her burn off some energy, it'll give him some pleasure beating such ego back into the mud.
Eventually, it did help use up some mana, but it was more her ego beating him and everyone else.
"Woo hoo!" Navi cheered, absently dodging a fist thrown at her jaw and countering with a knee in the gut, "I'm king of the hill! Or queen of the arena!"
"Bad shot!" Navi jeered, exaggerating her block to a kick, grabbing the leg and swinging the fairy like a bat, "You're a hundred years to young to beat me! And I'm not a hundred years old yet!"
"Foul cretins, I'm invincible!' Navi sneered, releasing a rabbit punch to someone's guard, effectively smashing it aside, "I am KING! Or queen..."
The fight went on for quite a while, and was stretched on even further as she chose to play with her opponents.
"I feel like singing," she said cheerfully, slapping aside a attempted grapple, "now what to sing, I wonder?"
"To be?! Or not to be?!" she bellowed, raising her hands in opera style while her legs kicked everyone away, "that is the question! Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. . . or to take arms against a sea of troubles. . . and by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep, NO MORE!" Navi paused for a moment as she scratched her head. "And by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. . . 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished! To die, to sleep! To sleep, perchance to dream: aye, there's the rub! For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come when we have shuffled of this mortal coil, must give us pause. . ."
She would have continued, but then noticed everyone already groaning on the floor.
"Dimwit," Shael choked out from his pained lungs, "that's not singing."
Navi shrugged and daintily glided off, replying offhandedly, "Who cares? I still whacked the stuffing right out of you. Now, I'm off to play the piano."
Music from a violin soon followed.
-
Link surveyed the six Kokiri he tied to a tree stump. Saying it very slowly, he asked: "Now, who took my blanket?"
"Saria did!"
"Mido did!"
"Navi did!"
"That princess of destiny you mentioned did!"
"The Great Deku Tree did!"
"Your evil twin did!"
Link groaned. It was apparent they were not willing to tell the truth. Well, time for some truth squeezing...
Walking away, Link waved his hand in dismissal. "Ah, it doesn't matter. I'm off to rob you guys, now that you can't move."
The truth came out easily enough after that. But not because they told him.
-
A rather battered Shael led Navi to the area where Hale would continue the course in magic control. Ko was also there, enjoying the act of flinging around small motes of light at the lamps. The area in question was really a library, as indicated by the numerous rows of books on one side, but had another that was bare aside from the circle of runes on the ground.
"Excuse me while I'm off searching for some anaesthetics." Shael bowed and departed. Hale was reading a book, looking all in the world like she never heard him. It was her pushing her glasses up and the slight incline of her head that indicated he even existed in her world.
Hale took her time in folding the page she was reading, and even more in placing the book back. It was with a sigh of resignation did she greet Navi and Ko. But a nod and a gesture to the rune circle could only pass as a greeting.
"Do not worry about damage to the books: a magic containment field has been erected, so nothing should pass this circle. Feel free to demonstrate your skills, both benefiting and lethal on me, for I would like to see what current skills you hold." The command was given in a sharp and serious manner. She erected a barrier around herself and gestured for them to start.
Ko took the initiative by throwing a bunch of wind blades against the shield. Navi never cared to learn such skills; when fighting the beasts Link did, they would only hold the damage of a toothpick: hardly damaging and it'll take poking in areas like the eye to get noticed. The spells Ko was tossing around however would have been deadly to anything their size.
However, fairies, being more docile and passive than anything else, were more known for taking and avoiding damage than dishing it out. Hale was a master of this skill, and was not sweating at keeping a barrier up to take the punishment for her.
One didn't live in danger and not learn any tricks, however. In the depths of Navi's mind she knew that no force she could apply would batter down that shield, but there were some things the shield couldn't block.
"My grandmother has fewer wrinkles than you! Is that poop on your head or is it mean to be hair? I've known guys that look more feminine that you!" Yes, some things could not be blocked.
While Hale looked undisturbed by the insults Navi kept throwing ("Four eyes! Geek! Library dweller! Dust face!"), the barrier was slowly giving way to the wind blades. Eventually, one broke through and Hale only barely dodged to the side.
"Impressive, Ko, you seem to have learnt how to keep your spells efficient, to be able to keep casting for so long. Navi, I haven't seen a speck of magic from you, but living outside the forest certainly has... taught you some things. It would therefore be my duty to educate you in the mystic talents, until you can properly cast an attack spell."
Waving Ko off with the explanation of teaching her later, Hale devoted her attentions back to Navi. "I have to commend your tactic of breaking down my shield. Crush the faith, slay the will." She smiled genially at her.
Navi shuffled her feet, trying to look embarrassed not arrogant. "I picked up some stuff working with Link. That's actually a variation of my 'cheer up' war cry."
Hale paused for a moment. "However," she continued, the smile slowly gaining a tilt to it, "It is in my professional opinion that your magical skills have been neglected for that tactic. As you will need a crash course and so therefore the quickest way to be taught, I will teach you the spells using the quickest way, namely, the hard way."
Navi blinked. "You just didn't like my comments, is that it?"
Hale kept her smile going, but muttered something like 'start dodging, buster' before 'educating' Navi.
-
"Damn. I guess there's no roast boar or fried eggs." Malik lamented as he stared disappointed at his vegetable soup. Living a place surrounded by wood, fire was a thing most of the Kokiri chose to avoid, so they cooked the food at one spot and dished it out. Soup was easy to make and easy to give, so every evening they ate that. Besides, they were vegetarians.
"I didn't know he had a drum kit," Link said happily, sorting out the stuff he took from the others, "but I know he won't have a drum kit anymore!" Cheerfully he played a pattern before shifting it aside.
"This stuff tastes like medicine." Reza choked, staring unhappily at her own bowl. It had a bitter taste that kept making her bite her tongue.
"It is. Earlier I asked the big tree person whether the forest children had any medicine." Malon said. "He pointed me to an empty house and said to rifle through the cabinets for some blackish green powder. I just added it to your soup."
"Ah, you were talking about medicine Saria made." Link added helpfully as he finished organising the items. He would return them anyway, since he'll be leaving again for Death Mountain afterwards, with all the scrolls about forging with him. "Very strong stuff. There's a quote everyone made about it: 'cure a cold with a fever'. A pinch would be enough to stop an epidemic in its tracks, and more would cure this world of disease." Link laughed at that, indicating it was a joke. Taking a sip from the bowl, he winced and shuddered when he bit his tongue. "Ack, how much did you put?"
Malon chuckled nervously, and replied, "A pinch. Thought it'll help Reza heal."
Holding his own nose Link walked off to grab his own bowl of soup. "Oh, it'll help her heal. I would be surprised if she still bears the injuries tomorrow."
Malon didn't really mind the meals, after all, sometimes in the ranch it was her turn to cook, and when she was younger her culinary skills weren't top notch. So when it was her turn, she'd either make sandwiches for everyone or boil whatever vegetables and meat she could find in hopes they blended together would taste nice. One out of three tries it would work, the other two ended up in the ranch closing temporarily due to 'lack of personnel'.
-
It was through the cool mists of the morning did the sun find Navi. And not in the most pleasant of sights, either. Battered and blasted by spell after spell, one generally loses their good looks for a while. It also drained a good portion of the excess mana as well, her needing it to quite frankly 'not die', as Ko put it. The last part of the course was really more of a field trip, where she was meant to conduct studies on plants within the Lost Woods and pretty much bore the energy out of her. For the first five minutes of her task, it was working magnificently.
"Flower looks normal? Check. Flower looks poisonous? Check. Flower something I won't want to sleep in? Check." Navi yawned as she flittered like a bee from flower to flower, occasionally flying into a tree trunk while she went.
Wincing as she plucked her face out of the bark, she took the moment to admire the force needed to imprint her face into the wood, before bumbling off to examine the next flower.
"Flower looks normal? Check. Flower looks clean? Check. Flower something I want to sleep in? Check." Navi brightened at that, looking around to see whether anyone was acting as surveillance before plummeting with a sigh onto the petals. Life is good, she thought cheerily as she snuggled in for a nap.
At least, good while there aren't anyone watching.
For a brief moment, Navi heard some giggling. Opening her eyes partially, like a radar she passed her senses around the area for other fairies, only to come up blank. Shrugging, she decided it wasn't worth her time.
That was her first thought until someone yanked her out of the flower and into another tree trunk.
Giving a brief thought on how she looked like a tree-hugger, she snarled and turned around. "Alright," she yelled to the moist air of the forest, "who did that? You want a piece of me?"
Her answer was more giggling, and the appearance of six purple glowing sprites. No wonder she didn't notice them, as she was searching for fairies.
"Alright, you sneaky, wretched little blobs of dung, let's see what you got." With a roar, Navi charged right to the closest one...
...only to be side-tackled by the other.
"Gee, she doesn't really think about tactics much, does she?" one commented snidely, giggling as Navi peeled herself off the tree again. "I wonder how she managed her job outside in the forest."
"She probably didn't," another giggled, "just hid when danger was around and let the little boy be her guardian."
"Or garden, considering how she seems to fancy his hair as a home."
Navi seethed at them. They were probably the same ones that caused such havoc for Malik earlier on outside. A pity that they were one of the few with group tactics, but she was determined to pound the fact the Navi didn't lose in.
She didn't spend the two to three years away from Link idly, after all.
Giving them a venomous glare, she charged at the nearest one again, mentally noting the furthest one clucking in disappointment and another charging right at her. Suddenly, she brought the momentum into a swing, slamming her elbow into the charging evil sprite and was ready to follow it up with a painful hammer blow to the shoulder, but one of the sprites chose that moment to slam both of them into a tree.
Spitting out bark again, she noted that the one she had a hold onto had fallen unconscious and was drifting down with a weak glow. Turning to the smirking evil sprite she screeched, "You'd turn on your friend? What type of dung ball are you?"
The sprite shrugged. "One that does what it takes to win. This is just a game, after all, no harm done." She teleported over and carrying the force from moving over three meters in less than a second into the shove pushing Navi back into the tree. The other four circled around Navi, and with an unspoken signal chose to rush into her.
With her wings bent from the impact, Navi couldn't fly up to avoid the incoming wave, so instead she chose to fall. Two of the five were unlucky enough to dive right into the tree, but two scattered flying up and one followed her and spiralled down.
Navi chuckled as the evil sprite neared up for what appeared to be a haymaker from above. They should have learnt, but in the miniature world of the fey, going for a close fight wouldn't be wise against her. Despite her wings failing to work, Navi grabbed onto the incoming arm and twisted it against the direction the sprite was spinning in, effectively ripping it free of its socket. Ignoring the pained cry, she shoved the arm down, grabbed the sprite's head and did her trademark attack: the head butt.
It worked like a charm.
Twirling through her descent, Navi managed to get the evil sprite's body underneath her to act like a cushion. The other two were hovering above her uncertainly, and Navi wasted no time to hide in the cover of plant stems, dimming her glow and changing it's colour in an attempt of camouflage.
Would she still be in top working order, Navi would have continued pummelling the others to prove her superiority, but with her wings damaged she chose the strategic relief of battle. It would be best to relay to the Great Deku Tree that some sprites were getting corrupted, and they were finding ways to last outside the forest.
Thankful that the mists helped veil her and that she spent most of the morning hovering over the same flowers, it was a quick and easy journey back through the tunnel and into the Kokiri Village. It was made a bit pleasurable by that the unconscious evil sprite she took for questioning kept bumping against the pebbles.
-
"Damned pain..." Reza growled through gritted teeth, tightly clenching her stomach and wincing as though it was on fire. "Damned medicine... damned world..."
Malik nodded in sympathy. "Oh, you poor soul, re-growing muscles overnight must be a painful process. I remember breaking my arm, and the person who placed the splint was so cruel in the treatment that I was knocked asleep from the pain."
"You were unconscious, idiot, not asleep." Malon corrected, kicking her legs from her perch on Link's tree house patio.
Malik shrugged, waving his hand in dismissal. "Same thing, just one thing's less painful that the other. Anyway, for an entire hour I was asleep and the guy said that it was better that way, since he said that my howling was irritating him."
"I'll follow in his footsteps and knock you unconscious if that'll keep you quiet." Reza growled, curled up in a foetal position. "Damned pain..."
"Hey, is that fairy walking?" Malon suddenly said, pointing to a blotch of light purple dragging a darker purple blotch on the ground. "I thought that fairies could fly?"
"Who knows? Maybe she decided her legs needed a bit more exercise today." Malik commented.
-
The walk to the Great Deku Tree however was far from quick and easy. Due to the broken hills and steep slopes, some parts would have been impossible for a fairy to walk over alone. The word 'alone' being the operative word, as Navi used her hostage as a safety mat, throwing her over first and then jumping to land on her afterwards. Luckily her wings helped provide some air resistance; otherwise the poor sprite's back would have been crushed from the constant use.
It was also hard to ignore the inquisitive glances from other fairies from her walking, and some of the fearful looks when they sensed her companion's aura. All of them however let her pass without question, knowing that she was heading for the Tree. Most of them were wondering how she'll cross the little river with her broken wings.
So for the rest of the morning and majority of the afternoon was used by Navi for fashioning a boat out of reeds. To her annoyance no one bothered to help her, most fairies too wary about the unconscious sprite to dare getting close – even Ko, for as amicable as she was. But she finally reached the Great Deku Tree and he welcomed her with more warmth than the other fairies.
"Good afternoon, young Navi. I see you brought a foreigner to my presence, and I feel your companion does not harbour good will." He said, flicking a glance at the evil sprite.
"The guy's been a prick, alright, him and his friends. But I've come to tell you, I've met him outside the forest with Link and he was just as ill willed as now. I fear that something is corrupting the fey, and granting them enough power that they can linger long outside the protection of the forest. There were five others with this sprite, and all of them were just as bad."
The Tree sighed, looking weary at the sprite. "It is not a what, it is a who. I believe that the same person that is harnessing the powers to make Dark Copies is the same for this event. I also strongly believe that Link is, or will be deeply involved with this issue. Very well Navi, I will attempt to cleanse this sprite of the corruption and garner as many answers as I can. Until then, go with Link, and help him on his present quest.
Navi bowed and flew off, tumbling into the ground as her wings refused to work properly. Cursing, she bowed again and walked away.
"Well," Navi muttered to herself, "that's one problem fixed."
"Curse it!" Navi screamed to herself, "There's another problem here!"
The reed boat she made had floated away.
-
Navi had finally found out what the staircase was for in the fairy training camp. With her wings broken, she was very grateful for them. Shael and Hale thought it would have been best to accompany her back to the entrance anyway, just in case she needed help.
"Despite that the field course assigned had been left undone, I would like to congratulate you on the more important discovery you have found. We will be ready to award your efforts another time, once all preparations are made." Shael heaved a sigh, looking downhearted for a moment. "For seven hundred years... While Hyrule was caught in the grip of strife and war, the Lost Woods had been protected by its enchantments for seven hundred years. If our fey cousins are getting corrupted within our own borders, it is my greatest fear that we will be included in the next coming war."
Hale nodded, understanding what Shael meant – after all, she lived those years with him, and Navi was still considered a junior age-wise to them both. "The Kokiri, the fairy folk, we are not war machines. The children of the forest would be unprotected from conflict, and there is little we can do to soften the blows. I know you will do this regardless, but I ask of you personally: Navi, while working alongside Link, please find a way to protect the forests from the inevitable struggles. I know such a hope is impossible, to prevent the inevitable, but there must be a way to make that gaze of hatred pass us harmlessly."
Navi nodded solemnly, took a swig of the red potion she had and walked off, pondering on Hale's words. She ignored the grumbles she heard behind her when they noticed their monument to Nayru destroyed (although she did sweat a bit) and paid the smallest amount of attention to Link as they departed from the Kokiri Village. Now was a time to be more serious in her duty; her duty to Link, and her duty to the Forest.
For now, Navi had a new task at hand.
-
A/N: A ha! I have finally completed this thing! At 10k words, this is my largest chapter yet. Hopefully this chapter hasn't suffered to badly from verbiage.
I have to regret to inform my readers that I will not be able to update certainly for the next months. Due to the transferring from one location on the globe to another, this computer will be stored out of my reach for quite a while, and slightly longer when setting up the internet line again. I thank you for the privilege you readers have given me as morale support, urging me to the final destination of this story: the end. It's still a ways off, but I'm getting there.
First time reader: For your review... thank you. That has been one of the most useful reviews I have ever received. I would gladly enjoy your next review, especially if it would allow me to improve this story even further.
If it is possible, could you help highlight the areas that you believed were lacking? I cannot promise that I might change them, but I'll use them as guidelines to 'what not to do' and improve upon following chapters. I know that perfection isn't in my grasp (yet), so every form of improvement is gladly accepted.
Heh, that's one of the beauties of fanfiction in particular: the audience, the cast and the setting has already been guaranteed. I guess should you not understand the Nintendo game, this story might feel a bit awkward to you. Most people who choose to visit this story generally already know the game on some level, so I do not really wish to be repetitive by repeating the events in the game again. However, character development is something I definitely wish to expand further upon: should you have any tips on that as well, I would enjoy reading it. If you want some better understanding of the game Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, supply your e-mail and I'll give a summary on them both – it might help you enjoy the story more, who knows.
Your review has been most appreciated. I might already be repeating myself now, but thank you for reviewing, and it has been certainly very useful critique for me. You probably work in management, although I find a flaw in your anonymous review name: if you reply the next time, I can't call you a first time reader, can I, eh? Ah well.
Lunatic Pandora1: Didn't understand? Damn... I was hoping to make the chapter a bit abstract, coming from the view of the enemy, but not so abstract my readers wouldn't understand it well... Pity... Well, it's pretty much a segmented view of the battle earlier (chapter 17) and Shukaku's thoughts. The slight addition on the end was just me trying to make art out of the story, and introduce the third brother: Shakaku. Thanks for reviewing though, shame some people deemed the interlude not big enough to care about sniffle
H7: Plunderers... The good ol' word for looter. Thank the lord I haven't met a thief of any type so far in my life, and I hope to keep it that way for the remaining god knows how many years left. Story recommend feature? I'm not so sure on that one, really... I think I tried to use it once, didn't get it right and stopped bothering, so I'm not really of help in that department. I could however recommend your stories when I review in everyone else's, should that work – I'll sound more like a spam bot (like on D2 – goddamn ads...) than anything else, but it might work. Oh yeah, speaking of D2, once my pc is figured up again in my new location, the time difference between us should be less drastic.
Well, I thank all those who reviewed for giving me the morale support needed for my frail determination to continue, and deeply thank all those who read this far for simply... reading this far. Huh. Until next time, au revoir!