Chapter 25 – Spring Fever

A bird chirped noisily at the open window of Link's room in the early hours of the morning. The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon, bathing the city and palace in a warm orange glow. The tired young Hylian opened one eye and swiveled it in the direction of the offending bird.
"Get lost," he grunted grumpily. One of the silver rings from the Key shot out from under his blanket and whipped out the window, scaring the bird off. He allowed it to fall limply outside the window before reeling it in slowly. Once the strap had shrunk back to its original length, Link rolled over with a loud groan and allowed himself the pleasure of drifting back to sleep. Blissful slumber would have arrived had he not heard the slight sound of a light step on the floor of his room. His eyes snapped open and he rolled over to face the door.
"Navi, you hear anything?" he asked his fairy partner groggily. He received no response. "Navi?" She wasn't in her sleeping spot. Link frowned and looked more closely at the door. It was slightly ajar, but he hadn't left it open and Navi certainly wasn't strong enough to use the handle, let alone push it open.
"Hello? Fura? Are you in here?" he called. No answer. Link narrowed his eyes and swung down to look underneath his bed. There was nothing underneath it, however, and he brought himself back up with a look of puzzlement on his face. He could have sworn he heard someone walking into his room.
"Maybe someone just walked past the door," he murmured before flopping back onto his pillow. It just so happened that fate chose for Link to yawn at that very moment and in the process of doing so he opened his eyes. He froze as his gaze met with the ceiling, or more precisely, the figure clinging to the ceiling. Nyara clung there with her claws keeping her in place. Her head was tilted way back so that she could stare down at him with her big, yellow eyes.
"What the- augh!" he squawked as the animal girl retracted her claws and dropped straight down. She turned in midair, holding her arms out wide and yowling at the same time. She would have landed right on top of him had the boy not leaped free of his covers and onto the floor. Nyara hit the bed and bounced a few times before dropping onto the floor along with Link.
"What's the idea, Nyara?" he demanded, untangling himself from the sheet that had decided to come along for the ride. She got down onto her haunches and stared at him through her dilated pupils. Link felt a surge of panic run through him as Nyara barred her teeth and crouched down low, flicking her tail slightly and wiggling her backside like a cat about to pounce. And pounce she did. Nyara launched herself at the young Hylian with a ferocious growl and he only had a split-second to react. The Key's twin rings rose on their straps and wrapped around Nyara's waist in mid-pounce. Link rocked back and Nyara hung in the air above him, waving her hands at him in an attempt to lay purchase on his person.
"What's gotten into you lately?" Link gasped, getting to his feet. "You're like a wild animal!" Nyara pouted and hung limply.
"Nyara playing," she mumbled. Link frowned and set her down.
"Oh," Link said. "Well can you play somewhere else?" Nyara's look indicated that she didn't really want to. He eyed her carefully as he quickly yanked his tunic on over his underclothes. As he moved for the door, Nyara's pupils began to enlarge and Link froze.
"Please Nyara, not this early in the morning," he groaned. She got ready to pounce yet again. Link looked around and suddenly snaked one of the rings out towards her. "Look Nyara, look at the shiny ring! You want it? You want it?" Nyara's attention immediately switched to the ring jiggling around in front of her, her head flicking this way and that as her eyes followed it closely. She began to wiggle again before leaping for it. Link bounced the ring around the floor as he backed slowly towards the door. Nyara scrabbled for the shiny toy, leaping and twisting in the air as it remained just out of her reach. The ring came to a stop and she landed on it before backing away slowly and batting at it with an experimental hand. It suddenly zipped away and back over to Link as he slipped out the door.
"No fair!" Nyara wailed before growling and racing over. The door slammed and Link breathed a sigh of relief.
"What the heck's gotten into her lately?" he muttered. There came a loud thump from behind him as Nyara collided with the door, almost knocking it off its hinges.
"Yow!" he yelped before hurrying off down the corridor before Nyara regained enough sensibility to use the doorhandle.
Link hurtled down the corridor with a look of panic on his face. He rounded a corner and heard his bedroom door click open from the direction he had come from.
"Oh no! She's out!" he fretted. "Gotta hide, gotta- aha!" He spied the door to Zelda's room and, opening it carefully, slipped inside and closed it behind him. Zelda was sitting up against her pillows in her nightie and she was in the process of brushing her long, blonde hair.
"Good morning Link. To what do I owe the pleasure of this morning visit?" she greeted him cheerfully.
"Nyara's trying to eat me!" he hissed. "Don't tell her I'm in here!" The boy took a run up and dove underneath the Princess' bed. Zelda blinked and rolled her eyes before leaning down and poking her head underneath the bed.
"You've said that many a time," she told him in an amused tone of voice. "Could it be that you're overreacting just a little bit?" Link's blue eyes stared back at her from the gloom.
"I can't afford to take that chance," he told her in a tone that conveyed he was quite serious. "Oh and good morning." Zelda laughed and sat back up again.
"You know…" Zelda snickered. "People might start talking if they find you in here while I'm dressed as I am." Link didn't say anything for a while and Zelda could almost feel his face getting redder.
"I- ack…stop that!" he hissed. The door suddenly clicked and opened slightly to reveal Nyara's face. She looked around the door frame at Zelda.
"You see Link?" she asked hopefully.
"Good morning Nyara. No, I haven't seen him today," Zelda lied. Nyara's face fell.
"Nyara bored. Ark door and window locked so Nyara can no get in," she pouted.
"Oh, that's a shame," Zelda frowned sympathetically. "I'm sure he'll be up soon enough." Nyara nodded and sighed before withdrawing her head from the room.
"Oh! Nyara?" Zelda called suddenly. Nyara's head reappeared. "Have you been feeling…strange lately?" Zelda's question was incredulous. Nyara blinked and frowned thoughtfully.
"Strange?"
"Yes…well it's just that you've been, well, a little rough with Ark and Link lately," Zelda told her delicately.
"Nyara just want to play more lately," she shrugged. "Nyara need to teach Ark how to play to make Ark happy." Zelda smiled.
"And what about Link?"
"He just starting to smell…different; warmer," Nyara said, fumbling for words. One of Zelda's eyebrows quirked up.
"I see. Oh well, thank you Nyara." Nyara grinned and closed the door before scampering off. Link suddenly exploded out from under the bed.
"See, see!? She can smell my blood! She can hear it pounding away in my veins; she can hear my heart beating, my heart!" Link babbled.
"Oh Link, calm down," Zelda scoffed. "Anyone could hear your heart beating the way you're getting so worked up. Nyara would never eat you; you're a friend after all. If anything, in doing so would make Ark upset and Nyara would go to great lengths to avoid that." Link quieted down, but his eyes were still wary.
"Perhaps you're right," he mumbled. Zelda smirked haughtily.
"Of course I am," Zelda told him. "The Triforce of Wisdom didn't choose me for my looks now, did it?"
"Certainly not for your modesty," Link mumbled under his breath. Zelda narrowed her eyes at him. "What? I didn't say anything." She shook her head and sighed. Link went to the door and opened it up a crack, peeking out to make sure Nyara wasn't laying in wait for him.
"Well the coast seems clear…I'm going to go down for breakfast," he told Zelda. "You're a little too underdressed at the moment." Zelda giggled.
"And why is that a problem?" she asked sweetly. Link winced at her and waved his hands.
"No, don't even go there. See you at breakfast."
"Wait!" Zelda called quickly. Link stopped and turned. "Stay outside the door. Let me get dressed and I'll be out in a minute." Link's face fell.
"Is that a minute in normal time, or a minute in girl time?" he asked flatly. He quickly dodged out of the door and closed it as Zelda hurled one of her pillows at him.

Everyone bar Nyara and Fura were at the table by the time Link and Zelda arrived. Link noticed with some dismay that the seat he was meant to sit in was located between two others. Link toddled over and attempted to sit in the seat next to Ark, but Florella produced a little spark of magic and told him to go sit in the middle seat. He glared at her and she merely smiled sweetly back. Zelda sat next to the boy without so much as a word, her demure and calm exterior showing only the faintest of dimpled, rosy smiles. Fura breezed in a little later and plonked herself down next to Link, greeting him with a ruffle of his hair. Nyara slunk in a few minutes after Fura, eyeing Link briefly before scuttling over and sitting next to Ark. As was expected, Ark tensed immediately in dreaded anticipation of Nyara embarrassing him horrendously by feeding him. She hadn't at dinner the previous night because Ark had wolfed his food down as fast as possible when Nyara took longer than expected to get to the table. As a result, she was itching to do something with him since she took her job of taking care of the boy so seriously. Much to Ark's dismay, Nyara was on him in seconds, shoveling food into his mouth, making him chew and then licking his face clean when she had finished. Isabella and Shera watched it all in great interest, perhaps even amusement, while Morgan grimaced and winced along with Link and Talen.
Once breakfast was over and done with, Impa got straight to the point about researching the Eternal Ark. Morgan and Isabella had already given the go-ahead for them to use every available resource in the kingdom, particularly that of the library and its private collections. The Sheikah woman gave the children the option of either going with her or staying behind at the palace. The boys gave a quick reply that they'd stay behind.
"Fantastic! You can help us prepare for the Spring Festival! Then we can go and get you some clothes to wear!" Shera said, clapping her hands. The boys reversed their decision twice as fast and dashed out of the room after Impa, leaving a number of disgruntled females behind.
"Moldy old toads," Florella muttered. "We should have made Ark stay behind at least. Those two'll warp and twist his mind about the Spring Festival."
"Well look on the bright side; we won't have the constant drone of complaints buzzing in our ears today," Fura shrugged. "At least we can get all of the things we need done today and then we can get the boys' clothes in one fell swoop tomorrow."

If Link, Talen, Ark and Impa thought that they were in for a long period of sitting down and poring over books, then they were at least half right. The library had been constructed inside a tall tower, making for a large amount of stair-climbing. Link cheated a fair bit and used the Key to hoist himself up to the tiers above and, as such, became the book-finder since he could move around so quickly. The other three sat at a big square table and pored over the books Link brought back. Ark did perhaps the most work out of all of them; leafing tirelessly through great tomes that were so old they almost disintegrated when touched. They repeated the procedure of fetch-and-examine for a good number of hours until lunch rolled around, and lunch was a time that could not be ignored when there was a whole palace kitchen full of food just right for the picking, well, in Link's eyes anyway. So, without much delay, the four bookworms replaced the books they had used and set out for the palace again. The sun was high in the sky once they stepped outside and the atmosphere of the city was truly that of one about to enter spring.
"I must say that I am rather looking forward to the Festival," Impa said out loud as they walked through the streets. "Bringing Zelda here every year is a very handy excuse."
"You're scaring me, Impa," Link muttered. She laughed.
"I must ask, if you do not like it then why do you come?" Ark asked in a puzzled manner. Talen and Link looked at him like he had grown an extra head.
"You're joking, right?" Talen asked. "My God, you're not. Ark…if we didn't come here every single year, even if we were on our deathbeds, then the feminine side to our group would shed their innocent exterior and do horrible, horrible things to us." Ark looked a little afraid.
"Horrible," Link reiterated. "As in mental scars horrible. No, it's a catch twenty-two situation; damned if you do, damned if you don't."
"Oh," Ark frowned.
"And I'm sorry to say that, well, you are now inclusive in the "family group" that comes here every year," Talen told Ark somberly. "Get used to this place; you'll be seeing it a lot."
"Hush boys, you're making it sound like a bad thing. The chance to see Shera and everyone is reason alone to come," Impa chided them softly. Link and Talen fell silent; Impa being possibly the only person capable of getting them to do anything without a fuss. Luckily for them, Impa stayed on the sidelines whenever it came to differences of opinion between the boys and girls.
"The way Nyara's been biting the poor fellow lately, I don't know if it is or not," Link said. "And she's been freakishly scary towards me too."
"Come to think of it, Nyara has gotten a little strange lately. I wonder what's wrong with her?" Talen frowned. "At least she hasn't done anything to me."
"I hope it's nothing serious," Ark murmured with concern evident in his tone.
"Worried, Ark?" Impa asked with a smirk. Ark blinked and went a little pink in the face.
"No! It's nothing like that!" he said quickly. "It's just…Miss Nyara's been so nice to me; resetting my broken nose and taking care of me in that cave…"
"I know what you mean," Impa laughed. "I meant nothing by it."
"Oh," Ark said a little sheepishly. He sighed and toughed his ear delicately. The tip of it had been getting a little tender as of late thanks to Nyara's odd behavior.
"I suspect it's nothing serious," Impa reassured the boy. "It's almost like she's acting like a-" The woman stopped talking suddenly with her mouth open.
"Like a what?" Link asked curiously. Impa winced and looked at Ark and Link briefly before waving her hand.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'll speak with Florella and Isabella about it; they'll be able to provide an answer," she told them rather quickly. The way she said it did nothing to ease their concerns, however.

The three boys trudged back into Windhill's palace wearily and immediately sought refuge in the peace and quiet of the gardens. It wouldn't be too long until the girls returned and destroyed that silence, so they were trying to get the most out of it as possibly by snoozing in the shade of a particularly large oak. Ark wasn't having a whole lot of success, however, as Impa had told him, "Ark, I'd advise that you don't find yourself anywhere…alone with Nyara until I confirm what's getting her to act so strange." He hadn't a clue what she meant by that…perhaps she considered Nyara to be dangerous in her state. But Nyara would never do anything to harm him, would she?
"Hey Ark, what's the matter?" Link asked. "You look worried."
"Well…" the boy began slowly.
"Oh don't worry about what Impa said," Talen assured him. "It's most likely nothing."
"I just hope there's nothing seriously wrong with her," Ark sighed.
"So do we," Link said. "And there probably isn't. If she's sick or something, then we've got a Great Fairy that can heal her. You can't ask for much more than that."
"I suppose you're right," Ark sighed admittedly. "I'm just worrying over noth-"
"Ark!" Nyara's voice suddenly cut in. The boy sat up with a start, only to be bowled over as Nyara hit him with a full-on tackle. They rolled around on the ground, with little growls coming from Nyara as she toyed with Ark. They eventually came to rest with Nyara sitting on Ark's back. He kicked his legs in an attempt to dislodge her, but Nyara was quite a bit stronger than Ark and she wouldn't be moved so easily. Talen and Link exchanged glances before the rest of the females showed up with all manner of bags in their arms. The two boys looked at them with dread.
"Hello boys," Shera smirked. "Have fun?"
"Relative to what you were doing, or in general?" Link asked innocently.
"Oh ha-ha," Saria muttered. "Did you find out any information about the Ark?"
"Not one smidgen," he told them. "And we looked for hours."
"Poor dears," Zelda said with a shake of her head. "What you need is a good dose of-"
"We're not going to watch you try on clothes," Link said flatly.
"Oh is that so?" Fura replied archly. Link looked up the scowling faces and felt decidedly small.
"I mean…I'd be delighted to watch you ladies parade in a shameless spectacle of needlessly fantastic outfits, isn't that right Talen?" Link said quickly.
"I'm quivering in anticipation," Talen murmured. "And I think we should go right now; Ark's in trouble." Everyone's attention turned to Ark, whose boot had been removed by Nyara so that she could chew at his ankle. Ark thrashed around on the ground making pathetic half-laughing, half-crying sounds. He wasn't in any pain, but he was having a very hard time coping with it and it was up to Talen to come to his rescue since he was the only person strong enough to pull Nyara away from the hapless boy. Talen held her by the scruff of her neck and she hung there with a rather goofy looking grin on her face.
"Nyara, please leave the poor fellow alone for a little while," he told her in a pained tone. "Just hold off for the rest of the day, okay?" Nyara looked at Ark and her bottom lip almost quivered before she sunk her shoulders.
"O-kay," she sighed. "Nyara leave Ark alone for while." Ark looked extremely relieved as he pulled his boot back on.

The boys were subjected to an excruciating second half of the day consisting of them imprisoned in the sitting room while the girls paraded through with the plethora of garments they had purchased. Some were low-key; the boys liking them the most, while others were completely garish and a little over the top. Since Florella had grown just enough to wear some more dressy outfits, she came skipping into the room with her eyes alight and her face the very picture of eagerness. The "just-smile-and-nod" rule came into its own for Link, Talen and, to a lesser degree, Ark. Saria, Shera and Zelda were perhaps the most sensible with their outfits, opting for a more formal and conservative look (though Zelda paraded out with a fair number of strapless, backless or low-cut affairs). Link brought up the prospect of lunch a few times, but his suggestion was always quashed by the "just one more outfit" excuse, where "one" meant "many". Fura, in all her wisdom, had decided to showcase perhaps the most revealing articles of clothing she could lay her hands on. Ark was frequently looking away with a stuttered apology for seeing her only half-dressed; unaware that she was, in fact, fully clothed. With each garment came more and more cleavage on the Gerudo's behalf, and she demanded that Link give her an express view of what he thought about her choices.
"It's a little…revealing isn't it?" he asked her delicately on one occasion. Fura's hands had gone straight to her hips.
"So?" she snorted indignantly. "They're there for you to look at."
"I thought they were for babies to, you know…" he left it hanging.
"Secondary function!" Fura told him. "They're man-magnets!" Link flinched slightly.
"Ah…should we really be talking about, erm…them in such a manner? I mean…"
"Oh stop being such a prude," Fura groaned with a shake of her head. "It's frustrating. Go on, I don't mind if you have a bit of a feel- just for curiosity's sake. You're probably going to be doing that and a lot more one day." She raised an eyebrow and tapped her bust a few times. Link stared blankly at her as his eyes widened further and further. It was probably a lucky thing that Zelda wasn't in the room at the time.
"Gik! Ah- but…FURA!" Link gasped, finally getting his mouth to work properly. "You're doing it again!"
"Doing what again?" she asked, slightly offended.
"Embarrassing me!" Link almost cried.
"Well sor-ry," she said sarcastically. "You're only stalling the inevitable! Humph!" With that she stormed out of the room. Link had done his best to bury himself in his chair after that remark. Nyara didn't have much of a part to play since she didn't actually wear clothes, though she did stroll out with different ribbons in her hair so that Ark could pick which one looked best. Yellow was the choice of colour since it went well with Nyara's eyes.
After a while, however, Link's grumbling stomach could not be ignored and, in a move of desperation, he and Talen escaped out of one of the windows with Ark to go raid the kitchens.
"Urgh, and to think we have to sit through more of that," Link groaned. "I need a rest from anyone that has hair past they shoulders."
"Here, here," Talen agreed.
"I must admit I never expected looking at clothing could be so…so…"
"Mentally exhausting?" Talen finished for him. Ark nodded.
"That's it," he sighed. "Well at least they seem happy doing it."
"I'll say," Link chuckled. "Florella looked like she was about to explode."
"She has a habit of doing that," Talen said.
"Exploding?" Link asked.
"No, getting excited," Talen groaned, cuffing his friend around the back of the head. The boys arrived at the kitchens and Link went in alone to filch food with help from the Key. He could hide under a table and use the straps together to snatch pasties and such from above without anyone noticing. Once he had a considerable stash, he bundled it all up in his arms and snuck back out again without the cooks noticing anything at all. It was then out to the gardens for some pigging out with Talen and Link competing to see who could fit the most in their mouths at once. Ark became the referee in the decidedly juvenile competition until Shera and Saria showed up to drag them back inside and tell them how childish they were for playing such an idiotic game. It didn't, however, stop them from being goaded by Link into competing against each other. Saria won, but Link put that to her having fantastic cheek muscles from barking orders at him so much. He was led back inside by his ear for that one.

Evening had well and truly rolled along by the time the girls had finished their second fashion show, plunging the whole city into a lovely twilight. All the children bar Florella were busying themselves in the sitting room with various activities. The Great Fairy had gone to speak with Impa and Isabella after Link had discreetly mentioned Impa's warning about Nyara. The animal girl had crashed out in front of the crackling fire that burned merrily away in the hearth, her tail and legs twitching as she chased figments in her dreams. Ark sat quietly by the window with the Compass, turning it slowly in his hand in a lazy manner. The boy liked Windhill, despite the sense of foreboding he got about Florella's spell, and he had a great urge to explore it some more, but since it was getting into late afternoon he had to be content to watch the sinking sun colour everything gold.
"You sure are lucky to live in such a nice place, Miss Shera," Ark said absently as he gazed longingly out the window.
"Windhill's a lovely place," Shera smiled. "You should go out tomorrow and have a look around."
"Not by himself, he's not," Saria said, looking up from her task of combing Fura's hair.
"Why?" Shera asked.
"Ark has something of a nemesis out there somewhere. He can't go anywhere alone because she'll probably take that opportunity to swoop in and nab him." Shera's eyebrow shot up.
"That doesn't sound very good," she frowned. "What's she after you for?" Ark sighed.
"I'll explain, Miss Saria," he said. The boy told Shera everything he knew about the black-haired girl, from her first appearance to him saving her life and to the kidnapping and treatment of his wounds. Shera listened in rapt silence until Ark finished.
"Wow," she breathed. "Sounds like something out of a book." She shook her head.
"And she isn't going to give up," Fura added. "She's one determined hunter."
"She likes jewels and things of that nature," Ark murmured absently. "She wants the crystal at the end of my staff."
"I think she'd rather get you instead of the staff if given the opportunity, Ark," Fura told him. "She said she's getting some kind of colossal payment for getting you out of the way."
"But," Link interjected. "It's not as if she doesn't have some morals. She won't kill him anymore, right?"
"That's right," Ark sighed. "She told me that she'd keep me where she lived until the day I died. I wonder what she's getting in return?"
"Who knows?" Zelda shrugged. "Some kind of treasure I'm willing to bet." The occupants of the room lapsed into silence.
"Well enough dreary-talk," Shera ordered, clapping her hands together. "Let's talk about something else."
"I'm hungry," Link said suddenly.
"Something other than that, too," Shera frowned. "Don't you ever get full?"
"Only when I'm eating vegetables," he shrugged.
"That'd be right," she snorted. The door suddenly opened a crack and Florella's head popped in. She looked cast Nyara a quick glance and, seeing that she was asleep, motioned for everyone to come to the door.
"What's the matter?" Talen asked with a frown.
"Nothing," she told him quickly. "Erm…could you all step into the hallway for a few moments…just leave Nyara as she is." Slightly confused with Florella's behavior, the occupants of the room filed out and into the hallway.
"What's this all about?" Fura asked. Florella made an awkward kind of face.
"Ah, well it's kinda about Nyara's odd behavior over the past few weeks…I think I know what's wrong."
"You do? Thank God!" Link breathed. "I'm telling you, that girl was beginning to scare me."
"It's nothing serious…is it?" Ark asked a little fearfully. Florella shook her head.
"No, nothing like that. Erm, how do I put this…?" she muttered.
"Put it like it is; that usually works," Talen told her.
"Okay…it's getting into spring…right?" she said. They nodded. "And spring is generally a time of new life and such, right?"
"You aren't making much sense," Link frowned.
"Shut up…anyway ah…it seems that Nyara has a case of "Spring Fever" I'm afraid."
"But…you said she wasn't sick," Ark said. Florella couldn't help but laugh slightly.
"No, Ark. She isn't sick. Um…now Nyara's a rather special case among us. She's part animal, right?" She received nods and murmurs of agreement. "Well…the animal part of her is still quite strong, as is evident with the mouse-eating and such." Zelda, who had a blank look on her face, suddenly blushed.
"Oh my," she giggled.
"Yeah," Florella winced. "Uh, Ark…I don't know how to tell you this but…Nyara seems to be in that certain stage where she's, erm, looking for a mate and it…looks like she's chosen you." There was silence.
"Oh my indeed," Shera giggled.
"Wha-wh…what!?" Ark squeaked.
"Don't get all excited; nothing's going to happen," Florella assured him. "Oh, and Link?"
"What?" he asked, getting over his surprise.
"It seems she was trying to eat you after all," Florella told him calmly.
"WHAT!?" Link gasped. "I knew it! What did I tell you!?"
"Oh hush," Florella snapped. "She wasn't actually going to do it. Her instinct is telling her that you'd be prime feed for her children, but she'd never go that far. She's changed it into the urge to play and beat you up a bit."
"Probably because you eat so much," Saria murmured out of the side of her mouth.
"Anyway; Ark, you need to make sure you aren't in a situation where you're along with Nyara for a prolonged period of time. I'm not saying that she'll do anything; we just need to be careful in case instinct takes over." Ark nodded, his face as white as a sheet.
"Don't worry Ark," Shera chuckled. "I'm sure you'd have lovely children."