Lakes

A lake is a wonderful place, a miniature ocean, with a beach of its own on all sides. It lacks the roaring tides and waves that give the ocean it's beauty. However it has an enchanting aura all its own, for the still waters are calming and relaxing. There are great mysteries in their depths.
Link turned around to head back into the village, but was stopped when he heard a woman.

"Link!"

The hero paused and turned to see who was calling to him. He smiled when he saw the owner of the voice and the companions that rode next to her. They were coming from the forest path to him.

When their horses stopped they jumped down and bowed to him.

"Link." The female repeated again. It was the same woman from Clock Town, Phlo.

"Phlogiston." Navi said and then addressed the other females, "Aeon, Bheesty. It's great to see you two again."

"It's Phlo." The older woman said stubbornly. "Stop calling me Phlogiston. But otherwise, hey."

"Hi!" Said Phlo's sister, black hair bouncing as she waved.

"Master Link, its good to see you again, this time without such grievous injuries." The shorter woman said, her blue hair fell into her face as she offered him a miniature curtsey.

Link grimaced at how formally the latter treated him. Navi pleaded for him, "Bheesty, Link's asked you not to do that."

"After saving not only my own life, but my parent's and sibling's lives as well, I cannot help but do so."

Link sighed. "He saved their lives as well, but they don't treat him like that."

"Well, Aeon's too young," Phlo said, "And don't start with me, I tried to kill you first time I met you, remember? 'Sides she's the prince's cousin." After that she crossed her deeply tanned arms.

"Hey, Link?" Aeon said, Link looked down at her, "What'd that letter say? I know that Princess Zelda was captured, but why'd you have to leave without Bheesty treating you first?"

"He needed to get here in five days. He stopped and bought some potion before leaving, so he's fine." Navi said for him and then said of her own accord, "Or at least he says. Can't you cure him of terminal heroism?"

The three women broke out laughing at her question. The blue haired woman stopped shortly and shook her head, "There's no such cure for that, I'm afraid, Navi." Then she added, "But don't worry, I don't think being a hero will kill him."

"It nearly will, all the time. Right, Link?" Navi asked him.

"What, did something happen already?" Phlo inquired.

"No." Navi immediately lied, sensing Link's masked irritation. However she was far too quick in answering the question.

"Did you drink a blue or a red potion?" Bheesty asked almost immediately.

"Blue."

The woman sighed, "And when you left Clock town?"

"Blue."

"Link," she said as she looked him in the eye, almost pleading with him, "I know that they are more effective then a red potion, but I implore you not to drink the blue potions too often. Not only are they difficult to come by, and to make, but they corrode your health when consumed too often. Drink red potions more often if you need to, but please don't wait until its almost too late and reach for a blue one." She said, correctly interpreting Navi's reason for asking the question and his recent use of a blue potion. "A red potion, or two, would have sufficed for your injuries back in Clock Town."

"He says he won't. And asks you to stop worrying over him. He says he knows what he's doing."

Link could not help but do the equivalent of rolling his eyes inside his head at the woman's talk. She had said this to him two years ago when he had first come to Greater Termina. He had slowed his rate of consuming the azure liquids, but not by much. He found them dead useful in a pinch where he would otherwise be dead.

"So then, Link. What are you planning to do now, unless you have the princess with you?"

"Oh no, he's rescued her, she's just coming along unguarded behind him." Navi said for him, calmer then he had it sounding in his head, but the words gave the effect he wanted. "He's trying to figure it out though. But he's going back to check on someone. Maybe they'll know."

And then Link had turned around and headed into the town. The three girls shared a look and followed him.

It took Link a few minutes before he could finally make it back to the blockhouse that Gavin lived in. He knocked on the door as the three others stood several feet distant. He heard someone inside shout, "Just a minute!" and in a few seconds the door opened. Gavin looked down at Link in half-shock.

"Oh, Link. You're back."

Link nodded. "Is Ramsay here?" Navi questioned. "He wants to ask her something."

"Sure, just one moment." Gavin said as he called behind him, "Ramsay!"

Link stood outside the door. The fairy landed on his shoulder. "Hey, just because the last clue was left with her, doesn't mean that he'll do that again."

"It's the only lead that I have though. If she doesn't have it, I'll need to scour Greater Termina for a clue." He thought back to Navi. She obviously didn't bother to follow his line of thinking.

In a moment the small fair-haired girl was at the door looking up at Link. "Hello, Mister Link!" She greeted.

Link crouched down so that he could be at eye-level with her. "Ramsay, did you happen to come across that cloaked man again?"

"No," the child said, while putting her hands behind her back and looking at the ground.

Link reached out a hand and tapped her shoulder. "Did you?" Navi asked again, "It's alright if you did."

"Yes." She said.

"Did he give you anything again?"

"Yes."

"Can Link see it?"

The girl nodded and held out her hands. In one fist was a tiny trinket. Carved entirely of wood. Link picked it up and examined it. He stared closely at the miniature object. There were odd grooves that marred the surface, as if the carver was an amateur and the tool had slipped into the finished piece many times. The edges were worn down by ages of handling. The object was a pyramid with a sphere placed at one peak. The thing looked, when staring directly at the sphere, like the pyramid was some childish attempt at wings. Link blinked in profusion when he realized what the thing was. The hand holding the object clenched around it in a sudden anger.

A child Link broke the surface of the water. He grinned up at the green haired girl that was standing near the small pool in the Lost Woods. She was grinning down at him, clutching something to her chest.

"Cool, Link!" She exclaimed as he dragged himself onto dry land. She extended a hand out to him and helped him to stand. "You nearly touched the bottom! That's so much better then what me or Mido can do."

The young boy grinned back at her, looking at the ground directly to his right while rubbing the back of his head.

"Here, I want you to have this. I made it myself." She said and held out the object that Ramsay had been given.

Link smiled at her once again and took the object, wincing as the rough edges came of in splinters around his hand. Link pocketed the object and pulled the slivers of wood from his skin. He smiled and bowed his head to her, his way of saying thanks.

"It's supposed to be a fairy. You know, since Mido's always teasing you for being fairy-less."

Link smiled at Saria. He bowed his head once again and together they walked out of the Lost Woods, the girl leading the way.

Link frowned and shook his head. He let go of the trinket and stared at it, confused. How had this cloaked kidnapper gotten his hands on this wooden fairy, it was a perfect match, even if it was a replica. Again, it was a reference to his past, a past which none should have known about. What this meant was beyond Link.

With a smile he handed it back to Ramsay. He had left that behind in the Lost Woods when he had left Hyrule. Where he had found out about it was beyond him. Link stood up. Perhaps it was a reference to the pool in the attached memory. Maybe it was a signal telling him to go to the beach, or the lake.

"Thanks, Ramsay!" Navi exclaimed as Link stood up. Then she whispered to him, "Do you really think he meant the water?"

"I don't know. The clues are enigmatic at best. However, he relied on the memory attached to the last object he gave her. So maybe it'll work again." He thought, and hoped that he was right. If he was wrong, he would be without a clue as to where to go.

Link had Navi extend his gratitude to Gavin before walking back to the three women that he had just reunited with.

"So, where are you off to next, Link?" Phlo inquired.

Time to decide, beach or lake. The pond was smaller, like a lake. Link was sure he would have pulled a reference to the beach if he had meant those southern shores. "The lake. He thinks he'll need to go there to get his next clue."

"Oh, well, come along then. You can get some food at my house." Bheesty said. She beckoned Link to follow her.

"Hey," Phlo said, "Could Aeon and I come along as well? We've got nowhere better to be."

"Of course, you both are always welcome." The slender woman said, smiling. She led them out of the town. They mounted their horses and set off to the western edge of Greater Termina.

"So, Phlo," Navi said after several minutes of riding, "Link wants to know why you were in Termina."

"Oh, we were actually looking for you. In all the chaos with Zelda being kidnapped and you being so injured, we forgot to mention it to you. There's been some major trouble in Greater Termina lately. I'm pretty sure you've noticed some shadow beasts. They've been plaguing our Holy Sites."

"Link did notice some new monsters running loose in the forest town and the Shrine there. But shadow beasts?"

"Yes," Aeon said, "at least, that's what Bheesty says." The blue haired woman was well ahead of the other three. So the young girl responded to Link's furrowed eyebrows, "They're monsters created from shadows, like the darker half of real beasts! But she also says that they're much more potent then they should be."

Link nodded. That explained the Garo Master in Ikana Canyon and the other mutated monsters he had encountered there. He was sure that this cloaked figure that had captured Princess Zelda was behind it all. "So, you've come across some?"

"Yeah," Phlo said, "we were all at the beach, we noticed this black fog over the Holy Site on the shore and went to investigate. We managed to beat off the foul beast there, but nearly died. That's when we came to get you. I don't know how bad it's gotten since, though."

"Right, and Link freed the Holy Site in the forest."

"So that leaves," Bheesty called out as she slackened the pace of her painted mare, "the one at the lake, the one in the desert, the one in the mountains, and the one by the river."