Here's a long one for you all :)

Prompt Thirty – Now Where Did That Come From

Timeline – Set During Ocarina of Time

Now Where Did That Come From

Link choked out a screech of pain as he felt the knife impale his body, and he collapsed to the ground. The boy looked down at the injury, and saw that the knife had hit him on the right side of his lower abdomen. In too much pain to really think about the consequences, Link grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out of his body with another yell. Taking steady breaths through the pain, the young hero glanced around, partially surprised that the Lizalfos hadn't taken another attack on him. It turned out that Navi had begun frantically zooming around its head in order to distract it. The creature was using its sharp claws to swat at her, and luckily she seemed too fast for its swings.

The boy knew that he didn't have time to wallow in his pain, Navi couldn't distract him forever. Luckily Link had already finished off other Lizalfos that had appeared with this one. It had caught Link by surprised when the monster had actually thrown the knife at him, since most of the time these creatures only slashed their knives at him. He was unable to move away fast enough, and ended up getting stabbed. With it brought a new level of pain he didn't think was possible. In all the scrapes, cuts, and bumps he's experienced, nothing compared to this. The young hero tested all his limbs, and everything seemed to still work properly so he took that as a good sign. That pain which had been starting to lessen somewhat, intensified the moment he stood up. For a moment Link thought he was going to fall down again.

But with gritted teeth, the child remained standing and readied his sword to continue the fight. The only good thing that came from the monster throwing the knife at him, was that it no longer had a weapon to use against him. Not that his claws weren't deadly enough to give him damage. That is what the Lizalfos used for the remainder of the fight.

Even though he was in pure agony, Link managed to slay the monster at last. With the adrenalin wearing off, the boy finally collapsed and allowed himself to feel the pain of the injury. This made it ten times worse, so all he could do was scream and cry in pain. "Oh no Link!" Navi called out, flying over to him as fast as her wings would let her. "Great Goddesses, let me see?"

Sniffling against the sobs, Link gently raised his tunic up to uncover the stab wound. It actually didn't look as bad as it felt in fact in the short time that had spanned since being summoned by the Great Deku Tree, he had seen far worse injuries than this one. Though it was bleeding some, he had always thought a stab would just pool blood everywhere. Other than the bleeding it looked like a pretty clean wound. Navi seemed to agree with him because after looking at it for a moment she said, "It doesn't look too bad. But we should bandage it up before anymore enemies come." She glanced around the room a moment. "Do you think you can make it out of this room, we're probably better off bandaging you up in an area that's not so hot."

Link couldn't argue with her logic. They had been fighting the reptilian beasts in an area filled with lava pits, and sweat which had already been glistening over the young hero's body, was now pouring down his face. Going by the nausea pooling in the pit of his stomach, there was a good chance he'd be vomiting soon. So yes, leaving this room was a good idea.

With a deep breath to keep his stomach under control, Link gritted his teeth and made an attempt to stand up. The movement caused pain to explode from the wound, giving him a dizzy spell, and effectively keeping him on the ground. The child tried real hard to not scream in pain, but was only able to keep it at a low groan. Navi hovered over him concernedly, "Woah, ok just take it easy." The fairy took a glance around the room as if hoping someone would pop out and be able to help them. When no one did she looked back at her charge. "All right, just take a deep breath and try again."

After four failed attempts at standing, Navi had all but given up, and was telling him stop trying and just get his bandages out. Link however was feeling worse by the second, and knew that if he didn't get out of this heated area he'd soon pass out and probably die from overheating. So with a yell of determination he made one last attempt at standing up, and managed to stay upright this time. Using the cave wall for support, the boy stumbled his way out the lava pit room. He did not stop until he felt the cooler air of the cavern on his skin; that was when he allowed himself to collapse on the ground. It took all but two seconds for his stomach to determine that it had suffered enough abuse, and expelled all the food he had taken in that day. This wasn't very much, so he ended up dry heaving a couple minutes before the stomach spasms stopped.

Link laid on the ground taking deep gulps of breath, relieved that he was out of that heated room. Hopefully no Dodongo's would come by, because in his current weakened state he'd be able to do nothing against their attacks. Black spots began dancing in front of his vision, Link could hear Navi saying something to him but he couldn't make out what. It was as if every inch of his body protested, with a rolling stomach, the sharp pains coming from his wound, and the pins and needles sensation all over the rest of his body. The child practically welcomed the darkness that came with passing out.

When Link came around, he was surprised to actually feel a little better than he did before he passed out. He was still in the middle of Dodongo's Cavern, lying on the floor in a heap. Navi was lying nearby fast asleep. He gently lifted up his tunic to exam the stab wound, figuring he could check that out himself before waking the fairy. In fact, he probably would just bandage it up himself before waking her. The poor fairy hadn't slept very much since they had left the forest, usually staying up the stand guard while he slept. The only real chances she had to sleep was when Link took non sleeping breaks, because she needed to stay on constant alert when they traveled.

It was hard to get a good look at the wound, in the caves poor light. The only light around were torches that the Goron's placed before the cave got infested with Dodongo's. But he could see enough to note that though the wound still oozed, it had stopped actively bleeding. So he took that as a good sign, and pulled the bandages out of his pack. He placed a wad of cloth on the opening, then wrapped another cloth around his waist to hold it in place. Once he was satisfied that it wouldn't fall off in a fight, the boy stood up to see how the pain was now. It was still painful to move and walk, but the pain had died down quite a bit. So he was confident in finishing up his promise to Darunia. "Hey Navi," the boy gently nudged the fairy with the tip of his boot.

Navi awoke suddenly, shooting into the air and looking around. "Link!" she sounded startled at the sight of him. She probably didn't expect him to be standing already. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than before. C'mon we should keep moving." Link picked up his pack and slung it over his shoulder.

The fairy still looked hesitant. "What about your injury? Is it still bothering you? And we still need to bandage it."

"Already done," Link reported with a smile, and then lifted his tunic up to show her the bandage.

For some reason Navi didn't seem too pleased with this information. "I wish you had let me help you bandage it. Are you sure you did it right? An injury like that can get infected if it's not dressed properly."

"It's fine Navi," Link replied with a hint of sulkiness in his voice. Sometimes he couldn't stop himself from regressing into the child he actually was, and before he could stop himself there was a pout in his lip along with a very whiny, "I don't need your help with everything." The boy felt bad almost immediately after saying that. Navi was his guardian fairy, and feeling the need to take care of him was only her nature. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to say that."

The fairy sighed, looking quite like a mother. "It's fine… You're sure you're ok, right?"

Link nodded his head. "Yeah, let's just hurry and finish clearing out the Dodongo's. I'm ready to leave this place."

Their trek through the rest of Dodongo's Cavern was relatively uneventful. At least until they met the source of the infestation. The King Dodongo. Link was lucky not to get roasted alive by its fiery breath. Luckily he had picked up some bombs in the cavern and was able to destroy the beast by throwing them into its mouth. According to Navi the Dodongo's stomach is its weak point so since the bombs exploded into its stomach it only took a couple bombs before its internal damage became so severe it could no longer function and simply rolled into a pool of lava and burned up.

After getting the Spiritual Stone from Darunia, they decided to take a few days rest in Kakariko Village before continuing their quest to get the third Spiritual Stone. The Goron had suggested they travel up the mountain and see the great fairy that lived up there. But they had no rupees for a potion at the moment and both knew with his current injury, Link was in no condition to be climbing mountains. So it was a mutual agreement to wait until the boy was mostly recovered from the stab wound before going up to see her. They would go try and get the next stone in the meantime.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for his injury to start bothering him again. In fact it was the morning after they had left the Dodongo's Cavern, that he awoke to find the wound extremely painful and tender to the touch. He did not dare take a look at it, for fear at being told off by Navi. Plus, he didn't really want to admit that she had been right about having him wait for her before bandaging his injury. Hopefully if he just took it easy and rested, it would be fine by the time they decided to continue.

How wrong he was. The boy felt steadily worse with each passing day. By the time Navi told him that they had rested enough, he was feeling achy and chilled. There was no way he'd be able to continue hiding it from her. Maybe he could try passing it off as coming down with an illness? No that wouldn't do, she was smart and would insist on taking a look at his stab wound. Though Link knew that he was only delaying the inevitable, he still tried to appear that everything was normal. Navi seemed to be in too much of a hurry to notice the subtle signs of distress he let off while they exited Kakariko Village. If it hadn't been for the extra tenderness of his stab wound, the child would have just assumed he had caught a cold of some sorts. Going by his pounding head, chilled skin, and achy joints; Link wanted nothing more than just lay down and sleep.

"I've heard that the third Spiritual Stone is being guarded by the Zora tribe, so we should head towards Zora's river." Navi suggested once that had come down the steps of the village, and Link nodded in agreement. He feared that his voice might sound too pained if he spoke aloud.

They had only been walking through Hyrule Field a few minutes before they crossed paths with a wagon. Link recognized the driver as Talon, the man he had woken up while back at the castle. Seconds after that a familiar looking red head poked her face out from behind the wagon's front canvas. "Papa look! It's the fairy boy."

Talon pulled on the horses reigns, bringing the wagon to a halt. He looked the boy over a moment before responding, "Well I'll be… it's the little boy that woke up at the castle. I never did get a chance to thank you for that. It wasn't safe to have left Malon alone for so long, so I'm ever grateful that you were there to wake me before something could happen to her."

"Oh Papa, I would have been fine," Malon giggled from behind her father.

"We're on our way to the castle again for another milk delivery. Can we give you a ride anywhere?" Talon asked.

Link opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated because he really wasn't sure if that would help them or not. He certainly liked the idea of less walking. Navi responded before he had the chance to, "We're not headed in that direction, but thank you."

The man just shrugged his shoulders in response. "No worries, but at least let me give you something as a thanks for waking me earlier." He turned to look back at his daughter, "Malon would you grab a bottle of milk for the boy?"

Malon disappeared back into the wagon canvas, and the sound of clanking glass was heard. A moment later she was running around from the back of the wagon with a milk bottle in her hand. Link's stomach rolled uncomfortably at the thought of drinking milk right now. Though he did enjoy drinking the creamy stuff, he was feeling quite nauseous at the moment. Malon held the bottle out of him with a smile, "Here you are Fairy Boy! Some of our best milk, fresh from this morning."

Link tried to smile back at her, but going by the way her eyes suddenly narrowed; it probably came out as more of a grimace. Hopefully he could just take the milk and make a quick getaway before the girl alerts any suspicions to Navi. Unfortunately, when he reached to grab the bottle from her, he accidently knocked it out of her hand. It landed on the grass next to them, thankfully not breaking. The boy made a dive for the bottle, and tried to apologize; but the pain that came with the sudden movement cut the apology short. "Oh no! I'm- ahh…" Link fell onto his hands and knees gritting his teeth against the pain coming from his wound.

"Link! What's wrong?" Navi shouted, alarmed by his sudden destress.

Malon was already crouched down next to the young hero, looking concerned. She placed a hand on his arm, but quickly drew it away before moving it to his forehead. "Oh my goodness! Papa he's burning up!"

"Hmm?" Talon questioned, pulling the break on his wagon and jumping down to get a better look at the injured child.

Malon helped Link lie his body on the grass, and boy, did lying down feel so much better than standing. In fact the boy didn't want to move ever again, it was just too painful. Navi seemed to have only just noticed how pale and sickly Link was looking now, and she wasn't happy. "Why didn't you tell me you were feeling this way?"

Taking this as a rhetorical question, Link didn't respond. Talen crouched down next him, and placed a large hand against the boy's cheek. "Yes he does have a touch of the fever."

"It must be his injury," Navi said, giving Link a disapproving look. Before saying to Talon, "Check his stomach."

The older man pulled the boy's tunic up to his chest, and at the moment Link was feeling way too miserable to be embarrassed about Malon seeing him in his underwear. The wound was most certainly infected; you could see his swollen red skin creeping past the bandage. Talon began to removing the bandaging, and fearing that he might be sick at the sight of injury; Link shut his eyes and looked away. There was tense silence that followed the cloth being taken away from his skin, and that could only indicate how serious the injury was.

After what felt like forever the silence was broken by Talon, "We need to get him back to the Ranch." Link felt his tunic being pulled back down over him, and then strong arms lifted him up. His eyelids had begun to grow heavy since he closed them, and it took some effort to open them and see where he was being taken.

Of course he was in Talon's arms, and being carried over towards the back of the wagon. "Oh Papa, is he going to be ok?" Malon asked fearfully as she trekked behind them.

"I can't say for sure darling," Talon replied as he laid Link down in the back of the wagon. Malon climbed in after, and quickly grabbed a blanket that laid folded in the corner and laid it over his shivering form.

Navi floated down till she settled on his chest, eyeing him with concern. The boy glanced down at her with a guilty look. "I'm sorry Navi… he croaked out in a shaky voice. The prickle of tears began to sting behind his eyes. "I should have let you help me with-"

"Shhh…" the fiary cut him off in a gentle voice. "We can talk about this when you're better."

Navi could not help but blame herself for Link's condition. She should have noticed his declining health long before collapsing from a fever, or better yet she should have insisted that she check on his wound before they left Kakariko. What she really should have done was not fallen asleep in Dodongo's Cavern so she could have helped her charge dress the wound properly. She was really failing her guardian fairy duty as of late.

Deep down, the fairy knew that she shouldn't be too hard on herself. Though only the Great Deku Tree and herself knew this, Link was not a real Kokiri. He was in fact a Hylian child, that the old forest guardian had decided to spare and raise as Kokiri. And because of this, she could not really form a real bond with the boy, like other guardian fairies did with their Kokiri charges. When a fairy is assigned to a new Kokiri child, the fairy is able to form a special bond with the child. With it, fairies can actually sync up with their charges thoughts and feelings, and even be able to feel their pain. So since Link was not a real Kokiri, this bond could not be forged. So it made it more difficult to take care of the boy the way a guardian fairy is supposed to.

Right now she was sitting on a small table next to the bed Link was lying on. Once they had arrived at Lon Lon Ranch, Talon brought the injured child into the house and laid him on a bed. Link seemed to have passed out during the ride, because he was no longer groaning every time he moved. Malon aided her father by supporting the boy's body while Talon gently stripped the tunic from his body, then undid the bandage. The stab wound, he had gotten only days ago was looking absolutely awful. The skin around the wound was tight and swollen, looking an angry red, and the wound itself was seeping a greenish yellow fluid. The fairy was honestly having a hard time controlling her own stomach at the sight of the gaping wound. Talon had instructed his daughter to go boil some towels, while he grabbed a red potion bottle from a nearby cupboard. "We'll need to try and get him to drink this when he wakes," he told Navi before leaving the room again.

After that, they were left alone for a while. All she could do now was sit there and blame herself for being the worst guardian fairy ever. She felt so useless right now; sitting around doing nothing while her boy lay there slowly dying from an infection that they could have avoided if she had only done her job. Quite a bit of time seemed to pass before the door opened again, and Malon came in with a tray of steaming towels. She placed them on the table next to Link forcing the fairy to move spots. "Those need to cool for a bit," the girl told Navi. "I'll be right back, please don't touch them."

With that, she left the room again. Navi just sighed to herself. The feeling of uselessness was growing stronger with each passing moment. They weren't left alone for long this time, just a few minutes passed before the red head returned with small bowl in one hand and an armful of fresh bandages in the other. She set everything down on a nearby dresser, then picked up one of the steaming towels with a pair of tongs. "Can you remove the banket from the wound please?"

"Isn't that going to hurt him?" Navi asked, feeling hesitant to cause the boy any more pain. She was feeling quite over protected of him right now.

The girl frowned slightly with a pitying look. "It will, but this is the only way to properly clean the wound, and try to stop the infection from spreading."

Not being able to think of any argument against that, the fairy nodded before pulling the blanket back. She did wonder where Talon had disappeared too, and why a child no older then Link was left to do this work. Malon gently dropped the towel onto the boy's injury, and then quickly moved her hands to his shoulders. It didn't take long to figure out why she did this. Link's eyes snapped open the moment the steaming cloth hit his wound, and an agonizing cry of pain belted from his mouth. If the girl was not holding him down, the young hero surely would have flung himself off the bed. Link weakly struggled against the girls hold for a few minutes crying openly.

Soon he didn't have strength to struggle anymore, and just sobbed. After a bit, she removed the cloth from the wound. There seemed to be a mound of yellow pus on the underside of the cloth, and around the wound. Malon used the cloth to gently clean the wound before applying a fresh towel. "Where did your father go?" Navi couldn't hold back from asking any longer.

The young girl actually smirked at the question. "He fell asleep while waiting for the water to boil," she finished this with a soft giggle. Honestly Navi didn't know why the girl found this amusing. She herself was a bit taken aback by the news and even felt a bit annoyed. The 'responsible' adult was downstairs taking a nap, leaving his young daughter to care for the dying boy they found on the road. Navi's thoughts must have shown on her face because Malon then said, "Do not worry. My mother was a skilled healer, and she taught me everything she knew before passing away. My father does not have the hands needed to care for the wounded, in fact I am the one who usually tends to our wounded animals."

Malon continued to apply the steaming hot towels to Link's wound until the tray was empty. By the time she removed the last towel, and wiped the last remaining pus away, Navi was in total agreement with what the girl had said. She definitely knew what she was doing, because the injury looked so much better now. The girl applied a salve she had grinded together to the wound before dressing it with fresh bandages.

The young hero looked much more comfortable now, and was about to fall asleep again when she stopped him by gently slapping his cheek. "Hey, don't go to sleep yet. You need to drink this first." She tipped the red potion that Talon had brought up earlier into his mouth. It was a long process but the boy was eventually able to drink the whole thing. Then with a final sigh, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Navi thanked Malon for all her help, and also apologized for her doubtful thoughts. It must have been late in the night now, because Malon went to bed shortly after that. Navi stayed awake though, feeling the need to keep watch over her child. It was probably safe to sleep right now, since Link seemed to be doing better. But she felt like too many things had gone wrong recently because she had fallen asleep. The fairy knew that she couldn't stay awake forever, but she vowed to be much more aware of how the boy was doing from now on. She would never let something like this happen again.

I know there's debate on Link's age in Ocarina of Time and I think most people think its ten. I however think that he was nine at the start of the game, and I stick to it because I'm pretty sure I ready an interview with Zelda's creator who says that Link is nine at the start of Ocarina of Time. I'm not saying this to start a debate with anyone, whether he's nine, ten, or twelve- he's still child in any case. So his age doesn't really matter. Just wanted to clear the air for any hard core fans that are wondering why I chose such a young age.