Leyla galloped Storm northwards, bending low over his neck to keep off wind resistance. Staring straight ahead, she can barely make out a mountain range far off in the distance. Well, at least she could tell that they were mountains. Glancing to her right, she saw Tam running at a great speed to match the horse. Mink was being jostled up and down on Tam's shoulders, but he didn't seem to mind; just an occasional squeak reminded Tam that he was there and that someone needed to be a bit smoother with his running. In front of her, Arctic Fox's eyes were closed in pleasure as the wind hit her face. Earlier, she had tried to stick her tongue out, but received a mouthful of Storm's mane. Every once in a while, she gave a little jump or excited yip, looking forward to the time she'll be back in her native land.

They kept traveling until, suddenly, Storm slowed down and reared up high. Leyla clutched at the reins and squeezed her knees tightly to keep from sliding off her saddle, and Arctic Fox yelped in surprise. Storm landed on his fore hooves with a loud and hard thud, and the little canine immediately jumped down. Tam, who had ran farther to the side of the horse, ran back to Leyla.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Leyla answered, dismounting.

Tam looked at her with a confused face. "Actually, I was talking to Storm."

Storm started to nicker and whinny.

"I see," mused Tam. "He said that he won't go any further, 'cause this is off limits to horses. Don't know why, though. Seems to be a rule."

Leyla frowned at the boy. "I can understand animals, too, you know," she reminded him.

"Oh." Tam smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot."

Leyla reached her hand toward her mount's neck.

"Why won't you go any farther, boy?" she asked. "You know how important it is to get that staff."

Storm stayed silent. Leyla knew that this meant the gray horse was not going to budge and that this would just be one of those things about animals she will just never understand.

She turned to Tam. "I guess we're both walking," she sighed.

Tam grinned. "Fine by me," he said, and he, Leyla, and Arctic Fox started off at a jog.

Leyla looked at the tall, dirty boy. Ever since he had saved her life- no, even before then, she had felt some attraction to him. Did she like him? No, she decided. looking at the ring on her left hand, definitely not in that way. Link will always be the only one who filled that special place. With Tam, it was more of a sisterly affection she felt. 'But,' she thought, 'I probably would know more about him if he were my brother.' Then she realized that she knew practically nothing about him; only his character and the fact that he has a special relationship with animals.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Tam's voice came from far away. Abruptly, Leyla realized that she was staring at him; intently. "Nothing personal, you see, but it's kinda creeping me out."

Leyla blushed. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I was just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

Leyla hesitated. "You. How old are you?"

Now Tam stared at the Wood-Elf, caught by surprise. "Uh, is there a reason for this?" he asked.

"Chalk it up to curiosity. I just wanna know more about you."

"Well," Tam started, "Mother Hummingbird says it's been a little over eighteen years since she found me."

Leyla just nodded, and then processed what he had said. "Wait. Found?"

"Yep." Tam shrugged. "Mother Hummingbird says it's custom."

"What custom?"

Tam was silent for a while; he was frowning into the distance. Slowly, he slackened his speed until he was walking. Leyla, although wanting to hurry, stayed by his side at his speed. Artic Fox gave a small yap, and was answered by a squeak from Mink. Arctic Fox growled and Mink slipped off Tam's shoulders and onto Artic Fox's back. Leyla looked at the two animals; from what she understood, the conversation went like:

"C'mon, Mink."

"Why? I wanna hear this!"

"Mink... This sounds personal."

Leyla looked back at Tam, who was smiling exasperatedly at his animal friends.

"Well?" she prompted.

Tam took a deep breath.

"I don't know," he finally said. "You probably know just as much about me as I do myself. All I know is that I grew up in the Faron Woods where Mother Hummingbird found me after I hit her in the air."

"What?" Leyla was shocked. "What the heck were you doing in the air?"

Tam shrugged. "I don't know. Mother Hummingbird just decided to take me in and raised me as her son. She said later that it was custom for animals to take us in. I used to think everyone did it and that animals could be heard by everyone. I mean, when I learned that Link and Jav couldn't understand Mink when we first met, I was surprised. No one had ever mentioned not hearing Mink when I talked to him before."

"Probably because they were slightly freaked out at meeting a dirty kid talking to a rat-like creature in the middle of the woods," Leyla pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, that would be kinda creepy, wouldn't it," remarked Tam.

There was a moment of silence as they continued walking, watching Mink being tossed by Artic Fox, almost playfully.

The silence was killing Leyla. "So," she said, looking for a subject, "how did you meet those two?" She nodded toward Mink and Artic Fox.

Tam shrugged again. "Nothing really exciting, actually. Mink was being chased by a couple of dogs, I told 'em off, and ever since, Mink stayed by me for protection. But," he smirked, "I sometimes would swear that he stays 'cause he's a social reject and would get lonely if he didn't." The emerald catty eyes twinkled to let Leyla know he was joking.

Leyla giggled. "What about Arctic Fox? Why is she all the way down here?"

"Well, last year she said she came here to see what the south was like. But when she reached the lake, she slipped down a steep slope and totally mangled her left back leg. It was really bad when I found her. I sewed it up and forced her to stay with me until it was fine." He paused for a second. "I wonder if Arctic Fox will want to come home."

There was an awkward silence. Leyla took a deep breath and asked Tam something that had been on her mind.

"So, you're never going to know who your parents are?"

Tam stumbled. "What?" He was confused. "Why would I want to know? Mother Hummingbird and Grizzly are my parents."

Leyla stared at him. "Well, I would want to know who my real parents were. Especially since I realized I'm not a Hylian. That's why I went to ask Zelda about those freaky dreams I'd been having. And once I found out I was a Wood-Elf, I really wanted to know more. That's why I was so happy when Malia told me everything."

Tam looked at her incredulously. "You were crying."

Leyla scowled. "Well, okay, but really, to just have that suddenly pushed on you, anyone would cry. And besides, she was my mother! All that time, and she said zip!" She paused. "I wish I knew what my father was like, too." The scowl slid off and was replaced by a look of disappointment.

The eighteen-year-old put his arm around Leyla awkwardly in an attempt to comfort her. "Well, you know, your situation and mine are completely different. Yours was something unnatural and forced. And even if mine was forced, too, I can tell it was still natural and meant to happen. It just is."

"Well," Leyla said, "I don't have to like it. I would want to know who had left me. I would have lots of questions. Like, who do I look like? Who do I act like? What do they look like? Is there more like me? Did my parents love me? Why did they abandoned me?"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Tam interrupted. "I don't think I was abandoned. More like I was put up for adoption. You know, in the air. Hey, maybe I ran away."
"When you were a baby?"
"Stranger things have happened."

"But what if some wild animal had come up and thought, 'Ooh, breakfast'?"

Tam looked surprised and puzzled. "Why would the animals want to eat me then?" he asked. "They gotta raise me, right? Besides, no one wants to eat a tiny meal when a feast is better."

Leyla shook her head. She couldn't understand Tam's instant trust in beasts. "Well, still, wouldn't you want some answers?"

Another moment of silence past. Tam broke it this time.

"Well, let's get going. We want to find this staff, right?" And he started off at a quick sprint. Leyla, caught by surprise, had to go faster than she normally would to catch up. They both passed Arctic Fox and Mink, and Arctic Fox gave a small yap, translated to, "Hey!" And she gathered Mink in her teeth, threw him on her back, and galloped off after them.

After about ten minutes of running in silence towards the mountain range, Mink started squeaking excitedly.

"Hey!" Leyla's brain translated. "Is it just me, or is it getting cold?"