Since I'm working on NaNo this month (I'm writing 50,000 words for this fanfic as a matter of fact), there's no way I can fully edit this chapter in a decent amount of time without forestalling posting it even more than I already have. Hope you guys like it, and sorry if there's any errors or sloppiness in general.

Kersplunk, you are way too smart for my good, but I hope you haven't guessed all the tricks I have up my sleeve. I won't tell you which ones you're right about, of course. Also, I put chapters 25 and 26 together into one to keep things flowing a little more smoothly, no major changes there.

Triumphthewonder, Navi's crush is indeed based on that Miyamoto interview, but I plan on doing a lot more with her character with regards to that little tidbit. If I ever manage to make it that far.

Me, an old lady in the year 2100: "Yay! I've finally finished writing this fanfic series! Now onto original work, so I can enjoy having a real writing career!" *Falls over dead at my desk*

Link and Sheik had reached Ordon Village sometime before noon, and it was afternoon when Link and Ilia disappeared in the woods. But now, the sun was dragging down into the trees, and it would soon be time for dinner. Hours had passed, but Mayor Bo was still facing off with Rusl outside his house. The other villagers had left one by one to return to their homes, irritated by Bo's endless barrage against Rusl.

"Rusl, I'm done arguing. For the last time, tell me where that boy is. He'll tell us where Link and Ilia are if he knows what's good for him."

"Bo, for heaven's sake! What do I have to tell you to make you believe that Sheik didn't kidnap Link or Ilia?"

"I don't know him! Do you know him?"

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to say all along! For crying out loud, Sheik is our contact for the Resistance! He relays messages for us to Lady Impa! Why would he-"

"Wait, what? Hold on. Sheik knows Lady Impa?"

"He's her apprentice. That's wh-"

"You mean the Lady Impa."

"Yes, the Lady Impa."

"As in the Lady Impa, who runs Kakariko Village, who buys more milk from us than any other village."

"Yes, yes, that Lady Impa!"

"For God's sake, Rusl, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"How could I? Between you leading a riot and not letting me get a single word in, how was I supposed to? You don't know how hard it is to have a decent conversation with you anymore."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Bo, when was the last time you took a good long look at yourself? When was the last time you paid any real attention to the way you behave?"

"I behave just fine, thank you very much!"

"No, as a matter of fact, you don't! You raged at Ilia this morning, your own daughter, in front of Link of all people! And when you finally realized that Link was standing there, waiting to enter the village, you had to work at showing him any kind of hospitality. This is the boy who saved our village from thieves all those years ago, the boy everyone here thinks of as a son!"

"What would you have had me do?! The girl refuses to listen to me, no matter what I say!"

"And that's another thing! There are nights where I can hear you and Ilia screaming at each other all the way from your house! We live on opposite sides of the village, which means if I can hear it, so can all the other villagers! This has got to stop!"

"FINE! If you think you can raise my daughter better than I can, I'd love to see you try! The only thing I can think to do is tie her to her bed! If that's what it takes to keep her out of the woods, then that's what I'll do!"

Rusl was about to shout back when he stopped, inhaled as deeply as his lungs would allow, held his breath, then exhaled slowly.

"Bo," he finally spoke again. "It's not just Ilia, either. You. Me. Everyone in the village has turned on each other. We've let our tempers get the best of us for so long. We never used to argue like this. None of us did. Every day, it feels like I have to hold back to keep from lecturing and fighting with you and the other villagers. It didn't used to be like this. We used to be a peaceful village. What happened to us?"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Bo bellowed. "Ever since those Twilight Daisies infested the forest, we… I haven't been able to keep my wits about me." Bo flopped down and sat on the tree stump. "This village might only have a few people in it, but runnin' it, and all the neighboring ranches, is still so much work."

"That's why we're here," Rusl pleaded. "We're supposed to be working together, all of us, to keep this place from falling apart."

"It's been fallin' apart anyway! We work so hard as it is, which would've been fine if we didn't have the forest to worry about! Those trees used to grow green and tall as could be, but now they're so sickly brown, and it seems like ten or twenty of 'em are fallin' every day! It makes me cringe every time I'm lying in bed at night, and I hear one of 'em cracking down!"

"If it makes you feel bad watching our forest die," Rusl explained. "Then how do you think it makes Ilia feel? She loves the woods more than any of us."

"I know that! I know that better than anyone here! Do you think I don't?! I've spent years watching that girl grow, and every day she gets bigger is another day that she gets sadder and sadder, because she's forced to watch as the thing she loves most dies! I don't know what to do anymore! We as a village have tried everything we can think of to get rid of those monstrous flowers, but nothing's worked, and everything just brings a new load of stress and Ilia won't stay away from the blasted spring, and if the worst should happen I just-"

Bo covered his face with his hands.

"What do I do, Rusl? I can't do this anymore. You always seem to know what to do. So please, give me some ideas."

"For starters, you've got to stop taking your anger out on your daughter. Ilia's a sweet girl who does everything that anyone here asks of her, and the only thing she's done wrong is go into the woods against your wishes. She doesn't deserve to be fought with and yelled at day in and day out."

Bo pulled at his face with his hands. "But how do I get her to stop going into the woods? It's too dangerous for her to be in there by herself!"

"Then don't let her go in by herself. Tell her that she has to have an adult with her at all times. Or give her a certain time frame when she has to come back. Or tell her that if she sees or hears any trees falling she's to come back to the village immediately. Did it ever occur to you to compromise with Ilia, instead of just issuing ultimatums?"

Bo froze at Rusl's suggestion. "No. I hadn't even…"

"It never occurred to you to work with your daughter to find a solution together, one that you could both agree on? Bo, Ilia may be your daughter, but she's still her own person. It was only a matter of time before she'd start putting her wants and needs as a person above your demands as her father."

"That may be! But she still lives in my house and needs to follow my rules!"

"Which she has done, to a tee. You've never had any major problems with her behavior before. To be honest, I'm shocked she didn't start rebelling sooner."

Rusl sat in the dirt beside Bo.

"We as parents always like to say that our babies might not be babies anymore, but they'll always be our babies. But the fact of the matter is, the same holds true in reverse. We'll always think of our kids as our babies, but someday those babies will grow up into adults, and we'll need to let go of them, little by little, until they're out on their own. We can't control them forever.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but have you seen the way Ilia and Link look at each other sometimes?"

"Link? What's he got to do with Ilia?"

"Oh come on, Bo, think about it for a second. They're both teenagers, around the same age. He's a boy, she's a girl. Next time you see them together, you should watch and see what they do."

"Are you insinuating that my daughter's fooling around?!" Bo suddenly bellowed, so Rusl held his hands up in defense.

"No no, I don't think it's come to that. All I'm saying is that Ilia's old enough to have love on her mind. Bo, Ilia's growing into a fine young woman. She's strong when she wants to be, knows how to handle herself in emergencies, and has a very good moral compass. I'm not shocked that Link would have a crush on her."

"Wait, you think Link, Talon's boy, and my daughter…"

"She's sixteen, Bo. It was bound to happen eventually."

"But she's- she's just a girl!"

"Not for long. She's only got a few more years before she's considered an adult. And it won't be long after that that she'll maybe marry and have kids of her own. Are you still going to control her when it comes to that?

"You have to let her take control eventually. And not just Ilia, either. Have you considered hiring out a secretary of some sort? Someone who could help you run the village, so you don't have to do everything by yourself?"

"Eh," Bo sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I've thought about it once or twice. But I don't trust anybody to do it right."

"Then train them to do it right. That's why you'd hire them. And if they get something wrong, you take them aside and say, 'it's okay, we all make mistakes,' and then you work with them until they get it right.

"Your biggest problem has always been control, if you don't mind me saying. I-"

"No, no," Bo groaned, "You're right, Rusl. I get so tied up and lost in my work sometimes, I'm afraid of letting anyone else do it. But I'm getting old, and ornery, too. My eyesight isn't what it used to be; I could barely make out the ranch forms for the milk this year. I won't be able to do this much longer. Not by myself, anyway.

"I'll see about asking around for help. And I'll… I'll try to remember that Ilia is more than just my daughter."

"That's definitely a good start," Rusl said as he stood.

"And while I'm at it," Bo thought out loud. "Maybe it's time we considered hiring someone out about the Twilight Daisies. A real professional exterminator at that." Bo put his hand to his chin, and squinted at nothing. "You know, Rusl. There is one thing we haven't tried."

"What's that?"

"We've never had to worry about it until now, but maybe it's time we considered control burning the woods. Maybe fire'd get rid of those damn flowers."

"That might have been a good idea a few years ago," Rusl warned. "But there's no way that would end well now. The woods are in way too bad of shape for us to start setting fires in it. I'm surprised we didn't have any problems with our bonfire for New Year's Eve."

"That's true," said Bo. "And the wind has been pretty strong lately. It wouldn't take much for a forest fire to grow out of control."

Bo slapped his hands on both knees and rose from the tree stump.

"Regardless of what we decide, I want my daughter back! If that Sheik person didn't take her, and she's not at the spring, I want to know where she is!"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Colin in a bit."

Rusl stood from his spot in the dirt and walked over to the front door of his house. But as he reached out for the door handle, it twisted on its own, and Uli came outside.

"Rusl, darling," she said. "It's been a few hours since I've seen Colin. Do you know where he is?"

"No, I was just coming in to ask you."

"Oh, blast it all!" Bo called over. "Can't any of our kids stay away from the woods?"

"I hope he's not gone missing, too," said Uli. As she spoke, Sheik came up the hill, followed closely by Colin and the other children.

"Well well, Sheik, " Rusl smirked. "I didn't know you knew how to babysit."

"For your information," Sheik growled, "They followed me into the woods. I couldn't let them wander off by themselves."

"That's sweet of you," Uli said, clasping her hands together. "Next time Rusl's out of town, I know who to call for help."

"That's not- ugh, nevermind," Sheik groaned. "Rusl, I need you to gather all the villagers here."

"Why?"

"Because I've looked high and low for Link and Ilia, and except for the emblem that the kids helped me find in the spring, I've found no other clues as to where they might be."

"Emblem?" Bo blurted out. "What emblem?"

"A Sheikah Emblem, as luck would have it," Sheik explained. "Colin, may I have the emblem, please?"

Colin began fishing through his pockets, but as seconds passed, a look of horror spread across his face as his fingers slipped through the now apparent hole in his pocket.

"I… I don't…" Colin turned in a full circle and patted himself down, but had no results.

"Colin," Sheik asked quietly. "I gave you the emblem for safe keeping. Where is it?"

Colin felt his hands shaking, and was on the verge of tears. "I don't know…"

Sheik slapped his forehead and muttered "Perfect," under his breath. Uli rushed to Colin and pulled him into a tight hug while the Talo, Malo and Beth gave him scathing looks.

"I guess we'll look for it later," Sheik groaned. "Anyways, I also tried emailing the university about the flowers, but no one there knows a word. I'm running out of ideas fast."

"What did you have in mind?" said Rusl.

"I'll tell everyone when we're all here, together."

"Fair enough. Bo, can we get a town meeting going?"

With Mayor Bo and Rusl's assistance, all the villagers were gathered in front of Rusl's home. They waited patiently outside while Sheik sat on the couch in Rusl's house, clenching his fists.

"I wish Impa was here," he mumbled. "I'm not good at speeches. I know this was my idea, but I still don't-."

"You'll be fine," Rusl reassured him. "Just remember, it's for Link and Ilia."

"Right," Sheik sighed and stood from the couch. He strode to the front door and opened it.

"Okay," he thought to himself. "It's not that many people. I can do this." He walked over to Rusl's tree stump and climbed on top.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Sheik began. "As most of you already know, I've traveled here with Link on an important mission. However, we never shared the intimate details of that mission, which is what I-"

"Our children are going missing!" Jaggle's voice rang out. "We don't care about your mission!" The villagers chattered in agreement, and he continued, "What're we supposed to do when one of the younger ones disappears? Ilia and Link are at least grown up, but what'll happen if one of my boys goes missing, or Rusl's boy?"

"As strange as it may sound," Sheik answered, "Our mission actually has a lot to do with your children going missing. I'm not entirely certain, but I'm willing to bet that Ilia and Link's disappearances are tied to the infestation of Twilight Daisies in your neighboring woods."

At Sheik's words, the villagers began speaking in alarmed voices.

"The Twilight Daisies?!"

"The woods are cursed!"

"What'll we do?! They'll take all of us!"

Rusl's voice cut through the chatter, "Everyone please! We have to keep calm about this! Sheik has a plan for what to do, and we need to let him finish speaking."

"Thanks," Sheik whispered over to Rusl before addressing the crowd again. "The first thing we need to do is search the woods for Link. If we can find him, we can get to work trying to find which one of the villagers here is the Sage of Light."

"What about Ilia?" Bo barked. "My daughter's missing, too! We ought to be lookin' for her as well."

"Of course we'll search for Ilia, too. I wouldn't dream of not doing so. But Link is the only one here who can find and awaken whoever is the Sage of Light."

"Who's this Sage of Light person you keep talking about?" Pergie's voice shot out. "Why do we need to find them?"

"The Sage of Light is someone chosen by the Spirit of Ordona to protect its province and its people. If anyone has a chance of cleansing your forest of its infestation, it will be them."

"You said Link is the only person who can find this Sage?" Sera called out. "Don't get me wrong, I love the boy to bits, but what makes him so special that only he can find them?"

"Because Link is the Hero of Time."

A silence fell over the tiny crowd.

"Excuse me?" Sera finally asked. "Link, our Link, is the Hero of Time?"

"That is correct," Sheik nodded.

"Right," she rolled her eyes. "And I'm the Wind Fish."

At her remark, the other villagers burst into laughter.

"I know it sounds… out there," Sheik said, trying to break the laughter. "But I promise every word I'm telling you is true!"

"And we can prove it, too," Rusl added. "If everyone here could be patient and give Sheik and I a moment."

As Rusl pulled Sheik aside, he murmured over to Mayor Bo, "Don't let anyone leave. We're not finished yet."

The two disappeared into Rusl's workshop, and came back carrying a wide sheet in their hands. Rusl carried his two corners clumsily in one hand while holding a massive book under his arm, while Sheik held each corner of his end of the sheet in both hands. They came back to the villagers with the sheet, and laid it flat on the ground in front of them. The ornate Master Sword lay in the center of the sheet for all the villagers to ogle.

"A sword?" Bo asked gruffly. "Rusl, what's this about?"

"That sword," Rusl explained, "is the Master Sword of the Hero of Time."

"You're joking," Bo said, raising his eyebrow while bending down to pick up the sword. "It's a beautiful sword, I'll give you that. But I bet this thing ain't good for much except for decorating your-"

The moment his hand touched the sword, he jolted back and grabbed his hand in pain.

"YEOUCH! What the heck kind of sword is that?! It electrocuted me!"

"As I was saying," Rusl said. "Everyone here trusts my swordsmith skills, correct?"

The villagers nodded in reply, and Rusl continued speaking as he began flipping through the pages of his giant book.

"Thousands of years ago, the Goddess of Time, Hylia herself, forged the Master Sword in the flames of justice and truth, and presented it to the First Hero, who then tempered the sword on the backs of those who sought to destroy Hyrule. The sword of legend, and the sword you see here, are one and the same.

"The sword before you is no decoration. It is not a wall display, or a model or a replica, and it is certainly not a toy. You will never in all your lives see another sword like this again, not if you searched the world over. No one in the world is allowed to lay a hand on it, except those chosen by the Goddesses or the Spirits of Hyrule. That's why it shocked Mayor Bo as you all saw."

He came to the page he was searching for, and held the book up for all to see the detailed picture that covered two full pages.

"Almost everyone here saw Link when he came into the village," Rusl called out as he held the book above his head. "How many of you recognize this picture?"

"Oh my God!" Beth called out, pointing at the picture. "That's Link! It has to be!"

Everyone gazing at the illustration of the Hero of Hyrule quickly came to the same assumption as Beth, and began chatting excitedly.

"Those were his clothes alright!"

"I'd recognize that mug anywhere!"

"But how?! The Legend of Hyrule is just a fairytale!"

"It is no fairytale," Rusl replied as he closed the book and tucked it under his arm again. "The Legend of Hyrule is no legend, and the Link we know and love is not a figment of our imaginations. He is as real as the air we breathe and the water we drink, and the destiny in store for him. He has been chosen by Hylia herself to take up this sword and banish evil from Hyrule, as all his past lives have done before him. But now, he and Ilia are missing, and our friend Sheik is going to help us find them."

On his final word, Rusl looked up at Sheik and winked. Sheik nodded and said, "I've tried searching the woods but I just don't know the area well enough to do it on my own. I need your help, everyone's help, in finding wherever Link and Ilia have gone to. I promise that if you help me find them, Link and I will do whatever it takes to clear the forest of the Twilight Daisies."

"I'll help," Fado declared as he stepped forward. "We've known Link since he was a kid. I've seen that kid risk his own skin to save this village and Romani Ranch so many times. I don't know about all this Hero of Time stuff, but we all knew Link was a hero to begin with, so count me in."

The other villagers began nodding their heads in agreement.

"I'll help, too," Hanch said as he stepped next to Fado. "It wouldn't be the first time we've looked for him in the woods, and something tells me it won't be the last."

"You won't need any convincing on my part," Mayor Bo said, rubbing his sore hand.

One by one, the villagers all stepped forward.

"I'll help look."

"Me too."

"I'll do what it takes."

"Well Sheik," said Rusl, "Everyone's on board. What do you propose?"

"I'd like to form search parties," Sheik explained. "We'll form groups of two, so no one else can get lost."

"Can we help, too?" Beth's voice rang out, and he was soon followed by Colin, "I want to help find them!"

"No!" Three of the adults began talking at the same time, their objections muddled together, before Rusl, ever the peacekeeper, spoke again. "We need you to stay here in the village. We don't want any more of you kids getting lost in the woods."

"How do we wanna pair up?" Fado continued, and began counting on his fingers. "Between all of us, there's an odd number of adults here."

"One of us should stay behind in the village to watch the kids while the rest of us search," Mayor Bo pointed out.

"I'll stay," Uli spoke for the first time since the meeting began. "I have a feeling I'd slow the rest of you down, anyway."

"Then why don't Sheik and I search together," Rusl said as he dropped the giant tome carefully on the sheet next to the Master Sword. "Bo, you and Fado can pair up, then Hanch and Jaggle, and Pergie and Sera."

"Then it's settled," said Mayor Bo. "Let's get searching."

"Hold on," Sheik interrupted. "While I was wandering in the woods by myself, I remembered a spell that counters bad luck. I can enchant everyone's shoes so that if any of you step on the flowers, the trees won't come crashing down on top of you."

"It won't hurt, will it?" Bo raised an eyebrow.

"You won't feel a thing," Sheik shook his head.

"Well alright!" Bo clapped his hands. "Let's get to it!"

The villagers lined up two by two, waited their turns as Sheik knelt down and enchanted each pair of shoes, and then departed into the woods. The children, save for Colin, had gathered around Sheik and watched in awe as magical energy emanated visibly from Sheik's fingers into each villager's shoe.

When it was Mayor Bo's turn, he asked Sheik, "So how exactly do you plan on getting rid of the flowers, once we find my daughter of course?"

"To be honest, I have no idea," Sheik said as he focused his energy into Bo's shoes. "I won't know what to do until we find the Sage. But rest assured when I say Link and I will do whatever it takes to find out what they are, and get rid of them."

"Mhm," Bo grumbled. When his shoes were finished, he walked over to Rusl.

"I'm still holding onto my thought about burning the flowers," Bo whispered to him, trying not to let the others hear. "In case none of his ideas work."

"If it does come to that," Rusl responded. "We'll need to be really careful."

"I know that," Bo bit back, and they continued speaking away from the group. Talo had watched Bo walk away over to Rusl, and tried to listen in on their conversation, but the only words that he'd managed to pick up were 'burning the flowers.' At the phrase, his thoughts clicked into place.

Finally, Sheik enchanted his own shoes, and Rusl gave Uli a quick peck on the cheek before they headed into the woods. When they were out of sight, Uli said to the children, "You four must be getting hungry. It sure has been a busy day, huh?"

They nodded their heads and grimaced, rubbing their empty stomachs.

"I thought so," Uli laughed. "Why don't I take a look in our freezer, and see what there is to eat? In the meantime, you can play outside, but no leaving the village."

"Yes, Ms. Uli," they chirruped.

"I mean it," Uli said, wagging her finger. "No going into the woods. Got it?"

"Yes, Ms. Uli."

She turned to walk back into her house, when she felt a tug at her dress.

"Mom," Colin whispered. "Can I help you cook?"

"I don't know what I'm making yet, sweety," she said softly. "But I'll tell you what. I'll take a look and see what we have, and then you can come in and help me. Wait out here with your friends for now, okay?"

Colin tried to object, but his mother had already turned back toward the house and opened the door. The second it latched shut behind Uli, Beth and Malo were upon Colin.

"Way to go, idiot!" Beth squawked. "You went and lost the one clue we had to finding Ilia and Link! And it was my clue, too! I'm the one who found it!"

"Even for you," Malo glowered, "That was pretty stupid."

"And now!" Beth continued her outburst, "Thanks to you, our parents have to scour the forest for them! They could've been checking out that emblem, but no! You had to be a moron and drop it in the forest somewhere! And you, you…" Beth stopped her yelling when she realized she was the only one doing so. She whipped her head around to look behind Malo, and realized his older brother was not there.

"Hey," she said to Malo, "Where'd Talo go?"

He turned and realized what she meant, and his glower was replaced by mixed confusion.

"I don't know," he said slowly.

"How could you not know? You know everything!"

"He must have walked off after Ms. Uli went back outside."

"But why?!"

"I don't know. He just does what he wants sometimes."

"We have to find him! What if he gets lost, too?"

"He's over there," Colin said dejectedly, pointing toward the village entrance. Beth and Malo watched where he pointed, and saw Talo running into the woods.

"At least you did something right for once," Beth insulted Colin as she took up a jog in Talo's direction. "C'mon, we have to bring him back."

"But my mom said not to go into the woods," Colin protested.

"If someone else finds him," Malo explained, "They'll blame your mom for not keeping an eye on us. Is that what you want?"

"N-no…"

"Then let's go."

Unable to argue, Colin ran reluctantly after the other two as they chased after Talo. They'd run quite a ways into the woods, following Talo without alerting him, when he came to an abrupt stop in a clearing that was littered in dead leaves and Twilight Daisies. Beth, Malo, and Colin had to keep from falling over each other as they stopped running and darted behind a nearby tree.

"What're we doing?" Colin whispered to the others. "I thought we were gonna bring him back."

"Not yet," Beth hissed back. "I wanna see what he's doing first."

"So do I," said Malo, and the three peered out from behind their tree as Talo darted to the other end of the clearing. They watched, enthralled, as he grabbed handfuls of sticks and leaves and gathered them in his arms.

"What the heck is he doing?" Beth whispered, but neither of the boys answered her.

With his giant bundle in tow, Talo staggered back to the center of the clearing, then dumped the contents of his arms onto the ground. He ran to the clearing's edge again, gathered another bundle of branches, and brought it back to his growing pile. He did this a few more times before he sat in front of his pile, pulled out the two biggest sticks he could reach, and began rubbing them together.

"Oh no," Malo's eyes grew wide.

"What's he doing?" Beth asked again, and Malo answered, "That idiot. He's building a fire."

"What?!" Colin gasped. Talo looked up at the sound of Colin's gasp, and saw the others watching him.

"Nice going," Beth hissed to Colin before marching forward. "Hey!" She called to Talo, "What're you doing over here? We caught you, so you might as well fess up."

"What does it look like?" Talo pointed one of his sticks at his pile of tinder before returning to his rubbing. "I'm gonna make a fire and burn down all the Twilight Daisies!"

"You're going to what?!" Malo said, his mouth gaping as he came out from behind the tree joined Beth. "Why?!"

"I heard Mayor Bo talking about it with Mr. Rusl. They said we should try burning the flowers to get rid of them, then maybe they'll finally go away."

"Say," Beth put a finger to her chin, "That's not a bad idea."

"Are you mad?!" Malo whipped his head up at Beth. "It's a horrible idea! You-"

"You can't do that!" Colin interrupted him. "We're not allowed to play with fire! We're just kids!"

"It's not 'playing'," Beth corrected him, making air quotes with her fingers. "We're going to use it to save the village. I think our parents will forgive us if we break the rules just this once."

"Not if we burn down the village in the process!"

"We're not gonna burn down the village!" Talo yelled. "We'll be careful!"

"Oh really? And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I'll just make sure nothing else catches fire."

"How?!" Malo began raising his voice. "What'll you do if something does catch on fire?! What'll you do if you get burned?! Of all the ideas you've ever had, this is the worst! You never think things through!"

"You're wrong!" Talo shot back, then spoke quietly so only the three of them could hear. "This is the best idea I've ever had, and I'll tell you why." He stood up and gripped the sticks tightly in each of his hands. "If we burn the Twilight Daisies away, we'll be heroes, just like Link."

"Link?" Malo suddenly asked. "What does Link have to do with this?"

"Don't you remember? Link saved the village from milk thieves when he was just a kid, when he was our age! And just now, Mr. Rusl himself said he's gonna leave on a big quest to save Hyrule! That Sheik guy was saying how he and Link could get rid of the flowers, but if we do it for them, then Link won't have to, and he'll think we're as cool as he is! And everyone in the village will talk about how we saved the village as kids, just like he did! They'll talk about it for years, even after we're grown up!"

"You're going to get us killed," Malo cut Talo off. "We don't know the first thing about how to handle fire. There's way too much that could go wrong."

"I know what I'm doing!" Talo snapped at him. "And last time I checked, I was the older brother, so you have to do what I say!"

"Talo," Malo pleaded, "Don't do this."

"Don't listen to him," Beth waved Malo off. "This could actually work. But you gotta make a pit, or else you really might burn the village down."

Talo stopped his stick-rubbing, and finally noticed the dead leaves littering the ground around them.

"Fine," he admitted, "I guess you're right."

"Here," Beth said as she rolled up her sleeves. "I'll help."

The two set to work pushing leaves away with their feet until an empty circle of dirt surrounded the kindling. Malo glared at Colin as they worked.

"Well?" he whispered. "Don't just stand there. Say something. They won't listen to me."

Colin gulped, clenched his fists, and took a step forward.

"We shouldn't do this."

"Well, I think we should," Beth blew him off without looking up. "Here," she said to Talo, handing him two jagged stones. "You'll get it started a lot faster with these than you would with sticks."

"Thanks!" Talo said eagerly as he took them, then knelt next to the pile and began striking one stone against the other. Sparks flew from the stone with each strike, but none of them took.

"Talo," Colin continued, "Your brother is right. If he says it's dangerous, then we need to stop."

"Nothing will happen," Talo rolled his eyes. "As long as all four of us just keep an eye on the fire, we don't have to worry."

"You don't know that." As Colin spoke, his uncertainty drained from him, and he stood a little taller. "You don't know what'll happen. We don't have any water to put out the fire if something goes wrong."

"The spring isn't that far from here," Beth pointed her thumb in the direction of the spring. "If anything bad happens, we'll just run down and get some."

"With what buckets?" Malo joined in, standing beside Colin. "Are we going to carry the water with our hands?"

"Would you butt out?!" Talo yelled. "Why can't you just admit that we know what we're doing?!"

"Because you don't!" Malo yelled back just as loud. "It's just like Colin said; we're kids, and the last thing we should ever be doing is playing with fire!"

"Since when did you take Colin's side?!" Talo snarled and threw the stones aside, stomping over to Malo.

"When you started being the stupid one!"

"I'M NOT STUPID!"

Talo dove toward his tiny younger brother, but Colin pushed Malo out of the way just in time to take the full force of Talo's tackle. Talo cared little about his change of targets, and wildly threw a clenched fist into Colin's face.

"I HATE YOU!" Talo screamed. "You think just because your dad is the best swordsmith in all Ordona that you can do whatever you want! You think that just because Link likes you most that you're special! But you're not!"

"Talo!" Beth cried and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him off of Colin. "Stop it! Don't worry about him. We have a fire to take care of." Colin sat up and used the back of his hand to rub the bruise forming under his lip, while Talo continued screaming at him.

"You think you can just make up stories about seeing Rito, but you can't! You're stupid, and a liar, and we hate you! We all hate you! I wish you would go away and leave us alone! I HATE YOU, SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AND D-"

At that moment, a flare of orange caught everyone's eye, and they turned to the pile of kindling. A low, gentle flame was spreading across some of the branches.

"One of your last strikes must've gotten it going!" Beth realized. "It's working!"

Talo forgot about Colin instantly and sprinted over to his pile. His eyes burned with satisfaction as he watched the flame move slowly across the tinder.

"We'll get it going a lot faster if we give it some of these dead leaves," he said confidently. He ran over to the leaves they'd moved earlier, scooped up a big armful, and threw it into the pile. Some of the leaves landed beside the flames, and began to burn in the heat.

"See?!" Talo said, gloating to the others. "Nothing bad is happening! C'mon Beth, help get some more leaves."

But Beth didn't hear him. With the fire now going, she watched the flames crawl slowly further and further into the deadwood. With each passing second, the fire was slowly but surely growing bigger and bigger.

"Beth!" Talo snapped, and she jerked her head up to look at him. "What're you waiting for?! Help me!"

Beth looked back at the fire. The idea had seemed good at first, but now that the fire they'd wanted was here, existed, and clearly burned before her, a weight dropped into her stomach. She looked over at Colin and Malo, who shook their heads rapidly and pleaded with their eyes.

"Umm," Beth finally uttered. "Maybe… maybe we should listen to them."

"What?" Talo asked quietly, staring at her.

"Well, you know," she laughed nervously. "This is a fire we're talking about. This is pretty serious stuff, and well, we're not supposed to be around fire without our parents, right?"

Talo stared unbelievingly at Beth without saying a word, so she continued, "Listen, at least we can say we know how to make a fire, right? That's pretty good for someone our age. So whaddya say we put it out and-"

"NO!" Talo yanked a flaming branch from the pile and held it up above his head. "If you guys won't help me, then I'll do it myself! I'll be the hero, and you can all stand there and watch me save the village by myself!"

He looked around the clearing angrily. His gaze came to rest on a patch of daisies that nestled itself under a nearby tree.

"I'll show you! I'll show all of you!"

He marched toward the daisies, but didn't get far. Colin raced ahead of him and held his hands out, stopping Talo midway.

"Talo," he pleaded. "Please! Don-"

Talo shoved him aside and marched past him.

"Talo!" Malo called out to him. "For once, just listen to me! You're making a huge mistake!"

"You guys are the ones making the mistake!" Talo called back. He came up to the flowers, and before any of them could stop him, he lowered the branch and lit one of the daisies on fire. He took a step back to watch it burn.

"You see?" He said to the others. "It's burning! And none of the trees are falling! We can finally get ri-"

The sound of shattering glass pierced the air so loudly that the kids had to cover their ears. The daisy Talo had lit exploded into a vanishing mist, and the flame that had been left behind suddenly whooshed to life. It erupted into a flash of fire that knocked Talo back onto his butt and sent the stick flying from his hand. The torrent spread from flower to flower, each one shattering, disappearing, and spreading the fire higher and higher until the tree above the flowers was up in flames.

"Oh no," Malo muttered breathlessly.

The kids watched helplessly as it began jumping from tree to tree. Talo sat in paralyzed horror, wide-eyed and mouth agape. Within seconds, the fire had already spread across a dozen trees, and with every tree it claimed, it stretched higher above the canopy and moved farther in all directions into the forest.

The first tree that had caught on fire began to splinter, and while still covered in flames, began to tumble, its shadow looming over Talo.

"TALO!" Beth screamed.

Colin rushed forward, dove, and sent the two of them rolling out of the way just as the three crashed to the forest ground. The tree's flames caught instantly on the dead leaves littering the clearing, and before any of the kids had a chance to react, the fire began to spread across the forest floor, surrounding them on all sides.

"RUN!" Colin called to Malo and Beth. "Get outta here! HURRY!"

"C'mon!" Malo pulled on Beth's arm. Beth threw one last panicked look at the two other boys, then picked Malo up in her arms and sprinted away just as the fire closed off the clearing, sealing Talo and Colin inside.

"What do we do?!" She shrieked as she ran.

"Run for the village!" said Malo. "We have to tell Uli what happened!"

"What about Colin?! And Talo?!"

"I don't know!"

Pure adrenaline ran through Beth's veins as she held Malo over her shoulder and tried to outrun the flames. By sheer luck, the wind blew north and spread the fire in the opposite direction, keeping her safe until she burst out of the woods and into the village. Uli stood aghast as she watched smoke billowing up and over the trees. She didn't notice Beth until she collapsed onto the ground in front of her, sending Malo sprawling forward.

"Beth!" Uli cried hysterically. "Where have you been?! Where are Colin and Talo?!"

"They're-" she started breathlessly. "They're in there. In the woods."

Uli fell to her knees and grabbed Beth by her shoulders. "I told you to stay out of the woods! I told all of you! TWICE! What were you thinking?!"

"We… we…"

Beth curled into a sitting fetal position and burst into tears.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "We started the fire!"

"You WHAT?!"

"We- we thought we could t-try burning the daisies, but we didn't- we couldn't- I- I-"

Uli took up Beth in her arms and looked up at the dense grey smoke that climbed higher into the sky, and all she could think about was Rusl and the other villagers, now trapped inside the burning forest.

"Link," she prayed under her breath. "My husband believes in you so badly. I want to believe, too. If you're truly the Hero of Time, then please hurry back to us. We need your help."