((CAN: Ooh, the fangirls are gonna be mobbing me for this one. It's like I've brought to life one of their darkest and most secret Linkish fantasies. Now I have to admit I'm guilty as charged in thinking that he's not a half-bad-looking guy, but honestly, it's in the interest of humor. The phrase "green silk briefs" has to make you at least crack a smirk, regardless of your gender. Right?))
Spinning Slash, Chapter 11: Case; Clothes

"Ok. two steps left here, forward, forward, forward. RIGHT!- aaaaand duck!"

The four of them responded with reflexes akin to one who was being chased by a stray lightning bolt, even though Knashi was mostly talking to the taller two of the pack. Navi had learned the safest place inside this forest was wherever Link happened to be, and beneath his hat. Though said hat wasn't always on top of his head. The Gale-Seed trap they'd accidentally triggered several paces back did manage to gust it off his head. She felt a breeze much closer to her body than she'd liked when an arrow razed past the top of Link's head.

"You're quick," the Zora woman complimented with a smile.

"I used to do this for a living, ma'am," he said as he dared to raise. He hunched down in a sprint when another one appeared from an innocent-looking tree trunk.

"Hope you're learning a thing or two, little one," Knashi warmly advised Posie. "Pay attention and maybe one day you'll be as good as your father."

Posie shook her head and gave a sardonic grin. "I'm paying, but what's the point? If it's true what they say, and you're as tall as an adult as twice you were when you were two, I'm still going to be too short by twenty to have to duck!"

"Aww, cheer up, Pose, I'm sure you'll grow at. some point or another." But it was hard for Elaine to feel confident while Naomi edgewise sent the ambushing oak up in a column of flame behind her.

There was a very muting grayness about the ashy forest, despite the fact it was fed by the richest waters in all of Hyrule. Though shimmery green on the upside, the undersides of all the leaves in the trees' hair were the color of dusk. And with the branching tallness of every tree, it was like looking up into billowing rainclouds. Even the soil was verging on white. And there was no grass to speak of, either. So when Posie had tripped up earlier, it had been onto stone and grit.

"And we're what? A half mile in? Oh brother." Navi's tiny body sliced out from under Link's cap, and she wore the rim around her like a gigantic robe.

"Feels like we've been here an eternity, doesn't it?" wondered Link as it became finally safe to come back to his feet.

"I'm sure we have," groaned Naomi as she doused the tree with ice to stop it from engulfing the others around it. "We've spent a fourth of our time walking and the remaining three fourths falling and ducking and dodging and running!"

"We had to be very thorough with our traps around here," answered Knashi. "Not so much as to keep things out but in. The Colony of Ancient Waters is rather, err. as I try never to speak ill of anyone behind their backs, I'll say unsophisticated."

"How's that?" asked Elaine. "I thought some of the Domain were going to move there."

".Until negotiations went bad. Roll." They dropped to the ground as gracefully as they could, rolling right beneath a tall bush as it chucked three fair-sized boulders at the spot where they'd stood. Link held out his sword and gave the mechanism a steady chop in half, then helped Knashi up so she could continue.

"See, child, I don't know if you know this, but there are two kinds of Zoras. We are the developed kind, and they are not so. They, dare I say, have ideas settled in. warfare. Regardless of the fact that they need water as much as we do, they practice fire magic. And unlike our sleek physique, they are bulky and look like overly-evolved dinosaurs. Interbreeding of our species is rather. frowned upon."

"Ah."

"You're welcome. Kneel and run!"

They all lowered their heads and charged ahead, as the ground beneath them was necromanced into a thorny wave. Similar shark-fin razors swung down from the branches they trooped beneath.

"Alright. I think that was the worst one this area. That is, as long as you stay out of the river. Don't even think about sipping from it. There are some nasty enchantments on this strip of water."

Elaine looked curiously at the western trickle that somehow, in the Zora's eyes, had earned the right to be called a "river." The water was bright and clear, only invisible where its gleaming surface smacked back the rays of the sun-and noticeably clean. Even for Domain standards. Even the bed was, like the rest of surrounding land, gray. Not black, and healthily clustered with algae. It definitely looked enchanted, but in a malevolent way?

She took a chance. Inching closes as she dared, she let a dead leaf fall into the stream's tantalizing folds. Unaware of its fate, it was content to twist and do tricks in the air before a magicked stretch of liquid ate it up with cold teeth.

"I told you to stay away from the river!" Knashi's head turned on Elaine when a powerful stench of vomit filled the air. "There are spells on this place, remember?" she gently reprimanded the little girl. "That's not water in there, it's hydrochloric acid. Nasty stuff. It'll burn your skin off down to your bones if you touch it! There are small spots where the spells are lifted; it's safe to drink, but not here."

"If you're thirsty, Elaine, Link has some water in his pack," suggested Naomi with a shrug.

"No, I was just. curious," she winced back.

"This isn't a good place to be curious," even Posie recognized.

Well, she knew that, but though peculiar the water hadn't really seemed dangerous. She tried to concentrate on the crunching sound her feet made on the natural carpeting. As her feet lifted off she could feel the rubber sole of her one shoe lifting up from her heel. Another thing to worry about. Her shoes were falling apart already? She'd bought them just before school had started, they weren't old! But they'd been through way too much to be at the prime two-month-old shoes should have been at. Death Mountain, Zora's Domain, this. Not to mention she only had one left! She envied Posie's sturdy brown boots. Not only did they resist the elements, they deterred the prickly branches Elaine felt gnawing at her own legs, slipping under her dress. Pedophilic branches.

"I wish I had a pair of boots like yours, Posie. Mine aren't quite up to this trip, it seems." She paused a second to hold up her leg so Posie could examine her shoe, then she sat it back down and began walking again.

"Maybe I'll get you a nice pair for your birthday," Posie stuck out her tongue.

"But that's like an eternity till then! My birthday was at the start of August, it's eleven months away!"

"You sound like you don't like the present I gave you this year." Posie crossed her arms in mock-offense.

"Are you kidding? A bag full of chocolate and three puzzles works great in my book. But really. That's a long time to wait."

"Girls, quiet down and listen to Knashi," Link looked back over his shoulder.

"More traps," they both sighed.

"Don't worry, children, it isn't much further," Knashi told them. "Just a few more arrow launchers and a small fire cannon; don't see where the wisdom in that one was." Most of them tried to force chuckles, but the sour path they gazed into left their spirits low. "Oh, and one doozy of trap that's going to take some fancy footwork to pull off."

"I though you said the worst was passed?" asked Naomi, not happy with being taken by surprise.

"I did. But I meant after the end snare. It's cruel," she grieved.

"Beautiful," whined the ever-sarcastic inquisitor.

In this harshness Link had trained himself to view all before stepping. What here was going to get brusque on them next? He kicked a rock. It made a sound like an insulted monkey and Link's pupils shrunk substantially. Then he flashed his arms with a lazy smirk that wanted to know, What's this crazy Hyrule gonna do next?

He was told from his back by Knashi, "That's how unwise warriors get themselves killed, Sir Blade."

"I'm only checking for traps, and I'm not a 'Sir' unless somehow this is a royal court meeting and I'm having a rather threatening hallucination."

"Ok, but I'll do the checking around here." She grinned off the bit about threatening hallucinations. Naomi scrunched up at him as if he'd dropped little bits and pieces of his mind out his ear on the way back from the Fountain Cavern.

At first she thought it might have just been her imagination, but Posie soon actively realized the air was becoming whiter. It appeared to be fog, but it had the character warmth of steam. It seemed to be pouring out of an orifice in a burnt log. "Err, excuse me, Miss Knashi-"

"Hmm?" The Zora tossed her eyes back. She picked up on the curious log. "Ah-fiduss." She rubbed several delicate blue fingers across her forehead. "But we haven't seen the fire cannon just yet, so that means-of course, it fits in with the theme, why not move it."

She was punctuated by Navi, who threw in an entirely non sequiter line of her own from under Link's hat. "It smells funny here," she made a face while saying. "Like burnt butter, although it sort of stings my nose."

Knashi's attentions were instantly fixed on the tiny glowing orb that showed slightly beneath the green cap. "Fairy. You say it smells funny here. What does it look like? What does the air taste of?"

Navi seemed pleasantly shocked at actually having her advice asked for for once. "Well. it seems rather. blue, and it undulates like the ocean. The taste. it's like putting a lit match in my mouth," she flinched at the uncomfortable thought.

The Zora replied with a grim nod. Her line of sight fell little more than three inches but it was obvious she was trailing Link now. "Everyone. I want you all to throw me anything metal you may be carrying. Anything at all. Unless your skin is coated in a gel that makes you fireproof, like mine, you are in great danger if you head in much farther."

To take off his sword and shield was like sloughing off a part of his body, but Link unhooked the clasps attaching his gear to his shoulder strap and tossed it all to Knashi. She caught one in each hand, and stuck them to her own belt. Naomi did a bit of a doltish thing and pulled her weapons out of their sheaths before handing them over, but the Zora slide them with ease under the little belt and didn't make a scene. In her own hands she took Elaine's dagger and Posie's tiny tack.

"What's this about?" interrogated Link as he "remembered" wearing his Hookshot and gave it to their guide.

"Thankfully, little Link Junior spotted the steam machine-"

Posie flushed ruby as a cherry at being called "Link Junior." Almost too flattered to speak, she tried to return the favor in a clumsy fashion: "Aww, well, my name's Posie and, uh, that's really, uh, an overstatement?"

"Think nothing of it," she quickly checked the child. "Right now the vapor is gentle and seems benevolent, but it's all a part of the last trap. Even if we've managed to clear our the others in the harbor of automation, we still have to face this last one whose goal is to cook us alive."

Not surprisingly, there were four simultaneous "Ewwwws!" in response.

"The steam will crank up to far beyond bearable level. We've got to face the fire cannons, and deadliest of all is the enchanted radiation field. With the fairy's ability to sense energy with their normal senses, our little friend stopped us from walking right into it."

It was Navi's turn to blush. She'd saved their lives, sort of.

"Had she not popped out of your hat, Sir Blade, your armaments would have begun sparking fiercely and most likely set fire to your clothes and body, with their immense heat. Due to the confines of Ebridane I trust you not to have any experience with an outside object known as the microwave, but due to the nature of our conversation I trust you might have an idea of what happens when you place anything metal inside."

Link had an image in his head of a flaming spoon. He could guess. "And I'm still not Sir Blade."

"You're a knight and you're of the Blade family, that makes you Sir Blade to me."

"It's embarrassing!" he half-seriously scowled.

Knashi's eyes scolded him and told him at once that this was not the time for petty arguments. "It doesn't matter. What does is that our lives will shortly be on the line and you all require briefing."

Elaine watched the steam coil ahead in a way that was decidedly that of a sentient mist. She wondered how they would handle blazing hot water vapor and the foreign waves bouncing around in their invisible confinement. They already knew what was coming, but hopefully their wise guide had some idea of how to put up with it. "How will we get past this last trap, anyway? It seems pretty thorough."

"I have in my possession a charm which will create a small current around us; it will move away the steam from our bodies. It's strong enough to deter the fire as well, but shoving it off into the bush could be dangerous. As for the radiation. I've not a clue how we'll handle that, unless one of you can offer up a solution?"

"Whip out one of your magic doodads, Daddy, and we'll use that!"

Link was abashed to admit, he'd not thought to bring any higher protection. Such as Nayru's Love, the Goddess-given spell, or the Cane of Byrna, an ancient wizard's staff of invincibility. There went his poor planning skills again! Timidly he replied to Posie. "Well, sorry, kid, but I didn't bring anything helpful like that. I really only brought the basics- wanted to pack light. I don't think they'll be able to help us any."

"Well, might as well try," scoffed Navi. "What've you got in that pack? Could work."

"My equipment is as follows. The Master Sword and my prized shield, plus my Golden Gauntlets. My bow and arrows, a Hookshot, Din's Fire, a Roc's Cape, a bag of Magic Powder, couple of Deku branches. that's about it, I think. And my Ocarina, of course."

"Roc's Cape. I'm not familiar with that sort of artifact; what does it do?"

Naomi seemed a bit off-put. "Everyone knows what a Roc's Cape does," she groaned in a facetious stating of the apparently obvious. "Heck, even me. They're basically your standard cape covered in Roc feathers. Basically anyone who wears it gets to play a flying superhero. Excellent if you want to get across a canyon, but it doesn't provide any sort of protection."

Knashi looked for a moment to be sincerely pondering this. Perhaps she even had a plan, maybe flying over the contaminated area. Though the idea quickly gripped her that a single mantle wasn't enough for five people. "Do you know any Ocarina magic that could help?"

"A million songs and not a one that would be of any use in this situation. I can travel places in an instant, but not any place we'd care to be. I could call a flock of birds and travel that way, but they, too, know few areas of interest. Some songs I know would do nothing at all, and one would aid only me. I have friends in many faraway places who can hear me wherever I play, but it would take a good deal of time for any of them to reach me."

"Mmm. We are in a spot, then. I suppose we'll just have to run for it, and hope we don't do any permanent damage to ourselves."

That was something they'd love to think about. Really.

"How'd you get through last time?" Elaine wondered aloud.

"Well you see, last time this trap wasn't exactly here. Wasn't a need for it, really. at the time His Highness had a bargain going with some of the creatures of this forest. The Nymphs; sort of weaker fairies, you see. They had a Queen who would drive back anyone who tried to pass her castle, which worked quite well until the King found out how exactly she did this."

Posie was cocked to ask a question; Knashi read it before it broke the mist. "He didn't say. He blushed navy when they asked him what she'd been doing. Though he did draw his robes around himself a bit tighter after he refused to answer."

Naomi suddenly recoiled and had her finger in her mouth. "Oww! Guys, I think we're close. I just got burned!"

"Ooh, gracious!" Navi was out of sight again quick as a boulder set before a Goron. She didn't want to be around when things got messy, even though she didn't really have to worry about getting hurt. Fairies were sturdy and resilient creatures, tough to hurt and practically immune to magic. Only things harder to get rid of were cockroaches and dandelions, but that was all mundane.

"Alright, let's move. Everyone, cluster!" Knashi expediently found herself at the center of a small honeycomb of terrified persons. "Good. Stay together and move quickly. Agrath tazmè!" In effect, what she had just said in ancient Hylean was "Go wind," which might come off as a lame summoning chant to some. Dust itched passed all of their faces as they were surrounded by a dizzying tornado. As a final piece of advice, she told them all, "Don't try crossing the boundaries. You'll be whipped outside and be vulnerable to the steam. And fire," she added as an afterthought. "The wind circles me. So stay by my side."

They didn't need to be told.

On a dare presented to them by the Goddesses they stepped across the line of safety, into a blazing realm where they could feel their faces tingle. Their bodies were being bombarded by the fierce radiation and Knashi had become her own personal fireworks display. Every metal-coated inch of her body blazed. There was just enough space inside the whirling column for them to safely back away.

Posie hurt. She wanted to run on ahead. The temperature was intolerable even in their safety zone, as streaking waves collided with her face. They were trying to move fast, but the need for precision hampered their efforts. Link was trying to ease all their jumpy souls with some friendly prattle. "You know, Knashi, looks like you're going to be added to the list of the few people I can say have saved my life."

"Don't talk, just walk," she rhymed on the instant. "But that's an interesting thought. I doubt it'll make me famous, though." It was nice to see she was realistic about her deed.

"I know it won't. This little adventure's supposed to be confidential."

"Really! You don't want more fame for bringing home some fantastic sword?"

"Don't want it, don't need it. Especially since Posie will, in theory, be taking it. Most all the adventures I really remember, and treasure, are the ones that went thankless."

Knashi was enjoying listening to the hero's philosophy, despite what she'd censured with mere seconds ago. "Interesting. Like how?"

"My birthdays-never seem to go over well," Link sort of laughed as he started retelling his memories. "On my twelfth my younger sister, Arill, was kidnapped. I know most boys that age hate their younger sisters, but you have to understand-I hadn't had a real family for ten years of my short life and the last two had been utter heaven. My sister was one of my three best friends! Her and Saria and Zelda. I was crushed. I traveled untold lengths to find her! And only she and my grandmother-rest her soul-ever gave me a nod for it. See what I mean?"

"Sir Blade, you're a most fascinating man. I do hope we meet again; I'd love to talk more!"

"Flattering, but right about now I'm not big on distractions-"

"Right." The Zora recognized her own folly and quieted up, for the most part. She still told everyone for a last time that they had to move quickly and get out before they baked.

Surprisingly the remainder of the way out was rather anticlimactic. Boring, actually. Though Knashi made for an interesting display, sizzling and popping covered in metal objects, the five of them stuck together like taffy on a summer day and marched through the ugly field while steam seethed over their heads and crimson jets of anxious flame bounced away from their spiral shield. Their faces were certainly turning red and they all felt somewhat faint, but only Navi really complained about the smell and taste of the microwaves. She had her own little electric blue world that she was living in.

Naomi, perhaps the second-most irked after Navi, might seemed to one at that moment a walking sundae. Her face was, after all, the color of chocolate ice cream, and her hair a red like cherries. Somewhat darker than standard Gerudo fare, actually. And she was covered in an enormous chocolate "shell-" the caked remains of their trip in the fountain cave. They were all still very much covered in mud, but it was now dry and flaking of in large pieces. And it itched terribly. The tingle in the air was abating, the steam clearing from its scuffed-glass impairment and no more somewhat innocuous rocks spat fire, but all the walking was destroying their grimy casing and bringing out a new wave of discomfort.

"I think we've made it to the other side," breathed Knashi.

Despite their obvious heavy breathing, they all felt as if they were releasing their breaths after holding them for a very long time. Posie heard the Zora woman chant more runic words and dispel the tornado. The air was still white, but it felt pleasurable again. Naomi, who'd been very upright through the ordeal, now fell into a slouch of relief. "I hated that. My gut felt awful. Thank the Goddesses it's over."

"I thought I was burning up in there! I just hope there's no-hey, Pose, what's a fancy word for bad results?"

"Mmm." Posie checked her mental thesaurus. "Repercussions," she announced after some thought.

"Right. I hope there's no repercussions from that," she proudly stated with her borrowed vocabulary.

Link had to laugh. "You two are really silly sometimes, you know that?"

Two shrugs. He guffawed even harder. "Ah, you kids-"

Knashi looked around at the seemingly revived yet flaky crew she had commanded, and tenderly barked them all "Front and center." She set down the heavy burden of weaponry she had carried through the last test. With her photographic memory, she lifted each of their prospective goods in turn and called to them to pick up what they'd left. Link felt complete again with his sword and shield slung on his back once more, Posie commandeered her miniscule arms, Elaine tucked the dagger back under her limb and Naomi did a small dervish dance on receiving her twin blades. Their Zora friend was again bare save her belt and blue charm swinging on a golden chain.

"Once again, Knashi-thank you. Tell the King he could not have picked a better guard to send with us."

"He'll probably think I'm making it up to further my own army rank," she gave an unadulterated laugh. "But you're all quite welcome. It was a pleasure."

"Our pleasure entirely." Posie picked up for Link. "Now, there was some gift or another you were going to give us so we could get past the other Zoras-"

"It's already been given," she smiled slyly. "By getting through the last neck of the woods, so to speak, you activated the charm that placed it within you all."

To Link, that at first seemed a complete defeat of the point of having the traps, until her caught on-"Within?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. If you were to take of your tunic right now, you'd see that a mark bearing the Seal of Water on your chest. As long as the friendly enchantment remains on you, that mark will be there. As soon as you are welcomed by those at Ancient Waters, the mark will disappear. You will no longer need the spell after that. The lake itself will remember you treading inside of it as a friend."

How remarkably simple. A similar sort of spell kept him from becoming a monster inside of the Lost Woods, like a normal Hylean. Only it had been there since he had been an infant, because the Deku Tree had had to protect him from the malevolent spells somehow. Only those Saria and the Great Deku Sprout agreed upon could have such protection, and those of outside races actually born within the forest were always protected. Like Posie. "Perhaps we should now depart, Knashi."

"Perhaps. Goddesspeed, Sir Blade." She bowed and recited the guardian charm again, strolling almost leisurely back through the cursed and misted trees.

Naomi silently watched her leave with Link, feeling the same as he in that it was far more comforting to have her presence with them. They were strangers, and trespassers in this wood. Thought not friendly, she was familiar with these trees and shrubs. "Seems like the moment you make a new friend, they have to leave ya. eh, Linky-Boy?"

"That's really irritating, Naomi," her sighed with his face not concentrating on hers. "And yet enemies, on the other hand."

"Just what exactly are you suggesting, hmm?"

"Please don't start that again," groaned Posie as she massaged her face. "We don't need any more of that. strife."

Naomi eyed Elaine. "I never ever signed up for this, so I don't have to put up with it," she shivered slightly. "If you'd hand over my daughter," directed now at Link, "I'd get out of here and you'd never have to worry about me again!"

"I reiterate. How are you going to get back through there, and how are you going to get to Randy's house without causing a whole bunch of hoopla?"

She pretended to examine her nails and hummed random notes without a melody. "La la la; can't hear you."

"Please don't put her in the middle of your fighting," gravely pleaded Posie.

"Oh alright," they both gave in at the same time. They gazed at each other with a look mirroring what they thought; That's just creepy. They'd barely known each other for a day. And they already were responding in unison. Link knew a total of three people for whom he did that.

Navi mimicked in words a hollow laugh. "Yuk, yuk. Got a problem, Linky-Boy?"

"Now you're doing it." He shoved a hand under his hat, much to the fairy's displeasure, and only had to put up a finger to be on the verge of choking her. "Do have to resort to petty threats here or will you stop on your own?"

Here barely-intelligible and garbled response came through a strangled windpipe. "Gack! I'll stop! I'll stop."

He dropped her into the air. Her scarcely-recovered wings had to struggle in the half-second she had to keep her afloat. "Don't do that," she puled in a hunched-over hover. "Now really, you were such a sweet kid. What happened, huh?"

"A certain fairy ticked me off, that's what! I'm covered in dry mud and it irritates my skin, my clothes are all stiff and the air's all humid. Now's not a good time to get on my nerves!" He was noticeably pointing at her.

"Agreed on all three points, bub." Naomi slung her arms casually as she reached down to pull off one of her slippers and crack the hardened goop off of it. "We're out of the trap; what's with the steam?"

"Does anyone else hear a weird sort of buzzing noise?"

"I do, but that's the energy field behind us," Navi shrugged to Posie.

"I hear bubbling. Like a boiling pot," observed Elaine.

"It's certainly got the visibility of an active kitchen," pondered Naomi as she sniffed the air. "Clover. and honey. And something else-ugh, cheap perfume," she gagged while clearing the air in front of her face.

"No magic as far as I can tell." Navi affirmed them all with her specially-trained fay senses.

Remembering Knashi's warning about how unwise soldiers were killed, Link tiptoed up to a large bush with an exceptionally thick fog about it and teased a few of the branches back. They were young and supple limbs; the hedge was so thick and strong he couldn't hold enough back. Rolling his eyes and deciding there was a much easier way, he snapped out his recovered sword and dealt a whipping blow to the bush's center. He stuck his head through the newly-manufactured hole and felt globs of sap slide into his hair from the plant's wounds.

He gazed around and licked his lips, while hot air tickled his nose with drops of condensation. He saw before him a pool of only slightly muddled water, surface roiling. Though despite the steam, it couldn't be mistaken for boiling-it didn't bubble. It merely churned. A small hot spring! The Zora King had mentioned this. But he'd also mentioned plural. were there more? Most likely. With the enspellments behind them fairly blocked, one pond couldn't make enough steam.

Link pulled his sticky head out of the scrub, but his hands still held onto the peephole. "Hey, guys-there's some hot springs ahead! How's that for luck, ehh?"

Posie shirked back a little. "I don't really like hot water," she said in a moment of misunderstanding.

Elaine corrected her, doing her half of their symbiotic speech relationship. "I think he meant so we could take a bath and get this mud off of us," she grinned.

She felt humbled a little at not being the one to catch Elaine's nonexistent mistake, but that had been happening recently. The girl was gaining on her in terms of intelligence at wit, and twice had she managed to use vocabulary that flew over Posie's head. Which was sort of scary, because she knew Elaine had started actively keeping score on this. "By the way, I'm three points up on you. I'll gain on your twentysome yet!"

"Outta the way, Linky-boy," Naomi shoved him out of her path. She finished obliterating the bush for him with a few icen shards and a downward slash instead of her standard blaze, snagging a few fraying strings in his tunic in the bargain. She stepped around the swirling, unstable sediment around the first pool and leapt around an ashen-trunked tree. She paused, letting her head swivel-and looked around, still finding Link too close for her liking. She elbowed into the stomach of a bush-or perhaps it was a tree whose branches grew too low-with an empty center, and apparently hummed with satisfaction when she found another pool there.

The low-hanging boughs were surprisingly few; they merely carried thick foliage. The brown-and-red head appeared from between feathers of green, carrying instructions and a warning. "Girls, this way. You take that one in front of you," she indicated to Link with a shake. "Don't you dare come in here while we're soaking. I'll respect your privacy, you respect mine, kay?"

"I wasn't even thinking about looking," he coughed, offended and this time for real. He wasn't the kind to indulge in fantasies of that sort! He knew Naomi would accuse him of having a dirty mind, but if she worried about those sort of things, maybe she was the one with problems.

Elaine followed merrily along, but Posie hesitated for a moment. She contemplated something; Link had a guess as to what it might be, but he gave it a pass because he was sure she was too young to care. He thought. Perhaps she was a bit more modest that he assumed-she looked up at Navi with a simple question on her mind. "Navi, would you come with me? I, err, would really prefer to be alone bathing-"

Navi was strangely accommodating to Posie's request. Without her normal haggard attitude to the little girl, she replied honestly, "Sure." And what an oddly calm voice, too. "For once, I understand where you're coming from. I don't like having to-well, undress in front of anyone either."

"Thanks, Navi." Bona fide thanks. "I didn't want to go alone, but around anyone else I'd be uncomfortable."

"Yeah, well," Navi moaned. "I know I'm normally pretty callous to you and all, but I suppose at heart-you're your father's daughter. I guess I'm obliged to love you because of that."

Posie replied with two words of real and unreserved childish innocence-"You're weird." She gave a laugh that would warm the heart of the chilliest miser.

Link watched Navi pace after her as she took an eastern path to seek a third spring for herself. He hoped it was a shallow one. Having to constantly paddle while you were trying to relax was pretty much a nullification of the soothing hot water.

His own bath looked to be fairly cone-shaped-easy to rest in, then. And hopefully it wasn't scalding, either. Gently he eased off one long boot with his other foot and it slipped to the ground, right at the edges of the bubbling puddle. He let the still-covered toes on that free foot jump on the surface a little. Hot. Wonderfully hot. He could feel every knotted muscle in his body melt just a little at the prospect of that restful bath. His backpack he could happily slick away, removing great amounts of pressure all through his tendons. The heavy metal he almost always wore, and proudly, was for one baubles that wouldn't get in the way of his relaxation as was the strap that held them.

He sat down and tugged off his other boot and both his socks, one of them damp after its brief trip in the water. His fingers went soft in their eagerness to enter that tub, but he managed to undo the catch on his belt and cast that aside. His gauntlets, last of his leather apparel, fell free of his hands, leaving his sweaty palms to feel the glorious tickling of the open air again. He flexed his fingers in the delicate breeze a minute, letting them shake off the feel of chain mail.

His tunic looked like a very long shirt when it didn't have anything to divide it, piled up on top of the steadfast boots. His hat he took better care of than the rest of his clothing, delicately setting it flat on the ground with his gloves on top to keep it from being blown away. He realized the stark heat of his undershirt, discarding it gladly. The clinging fabric clearly smelt of everything it had been through.

There was a blood-brown mark there copied from the Seal of Water, just as their guide had said there would be. Link untied the small green ribbon that kept the majority of his long hair in a ponytail beneath his hat, and it fell all over his face, still lightly bent from its imprisonment but glad to be free. His pants and the last of his clothing went into his unorganized pile and he let himself be engulfed by the mostly- crystal liquid simmering at his toes.

It was like sinking into distilled essence of ease. He fell into luscious pieces as the magic hands of the water went over his tight legs and sensitively pulled apart the pangs rooted in them. The sugar-sand silt forming the cone of the pool was not grainy and uncomfortable; quite the contrary; it was soft as a blanket and squished enjoyably between his toes. The effect of it all was so lulling Link felt his eyelids almost unnoticeably hike down despite it being early morning. Even the most exciting adventure needed a pause; Link was more than happy to let this be it. His ears, now mostly hidden by his hair except for their bouncy tips, signaled out the sounds of the land for his mind to contemplate so he wouldn't actually doze off.

Sounded like Elaine was having trouble being coaxed into the water beneath the willow-like tree. "But I can't swim," he heard her plea. He smiled blissfully and rolled over onto his stomach, resting his chin on his wreathed arms.

"Nonsense! It's only two feet deep," Naomi tried to reassure her. "You will not drown. You can stand up easily."

"W-w-what if I slip?"

"Oh, Goddesses, girl, don't be paranoid. I'm right here; you'll be alright!"

Elaine's reply was not convinced, but it was willing to try anyway. Link chuckled. He flopped over again, head supported buy his hands in a classic "living in luxury" pose.

He let the sand, as much a liquid as what was propped above it, carry him downward to submerge himself in the remedial warmth. The spring was just deep enough that he could completely bury himself under the surface of the water if he curled. He opened his eyes for just an ephemeral moment to view the murky ripples of sunlight stabbing into the pond, then shot upward to bite the green-and-honey-scented air. The faint prickling wind ate the water on his face and left it with a not altogether unpleasant frost. His skin had that wet, clean and ionized feeling that comes with summer rain.

It did more than cleanse his body. His soul, too, could feel the effects. His morale was invigorated greatly. As the grime fell away from his figure, so did the clouds of pessimism and depression that encircled his spirit. He was lackadaisically humming to himself a tune an old friend had taught him, a ballad as tender and fleeting as the wind itself.

A sudden whirlwind kicked up behind him, overlaid by a curious rattle of sorts. Link felt the ice it pressed into his back and ducked his shoulders into the water. It vanished, however, before his brain had let him begin the motion.

"Hey, what's that?"

His neck went stiff and his eyeballs froze. Posie's voice?

"Mmm." Navi did not sound worried when she was questioned. He was allowed to let go again. "Looks t'me like. honey, that's what I'd vouch. Might be edible. dunno."

Link had to laugh at himself. This place did reek of honey rather strongly, though he'd not seen a bee hive anywhere, let alone a single bee. It appeared wherever they were was closer to the pool Posie was visiting. Oh, he'd hate to remove himself from that endlessly warm bath, but if he stayed in for far longer he would drift off for sure. A few more minutes, that was the trick. With a yawn he wished he could have held back, he flipped like a pancake over again. His lazy eye tracked around his surroundings, half acknowledging them.

They whipped into focus when he realized all was not as it had been. Something was absent; missing. Mainly? His clothes.

To say that Naomi jumped a little when she heard Link screech was a understatement. She made a sizeable splash when she fell back into the water. "What in the name of heaven and Hyrule.?" She stood and squeezed the water from her hair, which seemed to have regained a bit of luster, and hurried over to her clothes. "Stay there, Kimi. I'm gonna go see what's got Link all riled up."

They were loose, but she'd managed to pull her clothes on tightly enough as to be decent in male company. She stuck her head through the branches of the willow and hailed, "Liiink?"

"Gah!" Link flipped over on his stomach when Naomi's voice touched his ears. He took a deep breath and submerged himself up to his eyes in the steamy pond.

"Liiiiiink!"

"Naomi! Back! I. I'm not wearing anything! At all!"

He managed to evict a sigh from the gutters of Naomi's throat. "Good grief, Linky-boy. What was all that about?"

Link's skin fused itself with a brilliant pink color that had nothing to do with heat or sunburn. "My. my clothes are... missing."

Now how could anyone loose their clothes? Had she been able to say the pithy words she thought, Link would find himself being called an idiot at that very moment. A very big idiot. But, she figured that she'd better stay on the guy's good side, since he did have current custody of her daughter and he was an expert with the large longsword he carried. She would try to keep her frustration hidden. "Uuhg. OK, how'd you loose them?"

"I don't know! They were here and I turned around, and then they... weren't."

How wonderfully eloquent, Link! That sure helped a lot. "That doesn't help!" Naomi threw up her arms in outrage. "Do you think they blew away; could they have been stolen; what?"

"If they blew away they'd still be in the immediate area. And are they? No! I don't think the wind was strong enough to take my boots and belt, either."

Hmm. Well, he did have a point. Naomi took a chance on the first theory and peered up into the trees; the only green things she could spot were the dreary leaves. "Huh. Could they have been stolen?"

"But we're alone! At least..." He suspiciously drew a circle around him with his eyes. "...I THINK we are..."

"Didn't Knashi say something about some 'Nymph' or another? The King did too, I think. Maybe she took them?"

"What would a nymph do with my clothes? I don't think they'd fit her."

Naomi tried to avoid staring down into the water, still fairly clear for the silt swirling around in it. There was a more initial problem of Link being stranded in the middle of a somewhat shallow pool, stark naked. "First, let's deal with what you're going to wear until we find your normal stuff. Did you bring any spare clothes?"

It would be so like a guy to have intended to wear one thing for a whole entire trip, but Link had obviously done a little planning ahead. Surprisingly he gave a little nod, him chin bobbing in and out of the water. "Yes, there are the clothes I brought for Mount Ipanajou-a thick brown felt undershirt, brown pants, a Yeti Mail-"

"Great. It'll look weird, that combination of purple-ish-white and brown, but I guess fashion wasn't your biggest concern."

Obviously not. Who was going to worry about his looks up there in the snow and hail, where you could barely see a foot in front of your face anyway? "I don't have any socks, though."

"How about shoes? Do you have any more of those?"

Link had had the same pair of boots for longer than he could remember- Kokiri footwear was designed with a magic that grew with its owner until they matured as far as they were going to. He'd never had any other pair, just things he stuck on them. Like the Hover utility. "Uh-uh. Nope."

Naomi thought about that for a second. "Do you still have the clothes from the Fortress?"

Good Goddesses, no! "I should hope not! I left them up in your room."

She let down a breath too heavy for her lungs to hold, built up in her exasperation. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to be savior to your feet," she grinned with fatigue. "I'm used to walking on unpleasant ground. They used to steal my slippers before I went on a job, back 'home.' I'll lend you my shoes; crossing fingers that they fit."

"Hey-that was an uncommonly genuine act of kindness coming from you. Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah-" Naomi attempted to divert her attentions to the sky, trying not to be flattered. "Don't get all mushy."

"Well, if you're in the mood to be pleasant for once, throw me my backpack and get outta here. I'd like to get dressed, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Shall I fetch the munchkin while I'm at it and tell her the spa's been cut short?"

"Yes, please do go and get Posie," he sharply corrected. "If you're going to hang around us I beseech you to make an effort to remember names."

Well, maybe Naomi did owe it some to Link to be a little nicer to the poor guy. He did get her out of a pretty tight spot back at the Gerudo's Fortress, and getting around those creeps was never easy. Anyone who did it without dying demanded some respect. Another thing he'd have to change about himself before she would call him a friend-he'd have to wise up. Goddesses, he was a sweet fellow. He'd proved it with his selfless devotion to Posie. And Elaine seemed to think rather reverently of him as a person in general and not a celebrity. And he was brave and valiant and all that sappy stuff heroes were required to be. But he was a bit much his hair color.

She shrugged and turned around. "Your call." She sauntered back between the branches of the low-hanging tree to cut on through to the other side.

"Get dressed, kiddo, Link's got himself wedged into a bit of spot."

Elaine, who had finally grown better accustomed to the water, did not look happy about being told she had to lug herself out again. "You've got to be kidding me! I was just starting to like this-"

"I know, I know; I hate to pull this on ya. But we've gotta go on a search for a missing tunic."

"What happened, exactly?" Elaine now wanted to know.

"Ahh, Link's clothes have gone missing." Naomi's voice had a tone to it that sounded distinctly. over-washed. How a shirt my say things after too many repeated scrubbings. "Don't ask me how. Come up, come on, we're gonna go get Posie."

With regret, Elaine extracted herself from the warm caress of the bubbling spring and threw on her clothes with less than abandon. Her dress was crimped and wrinkled as if she'd slept in it. She drew up the long sleeves to her elbows, where they only barely managed to hug themselves in one spot. No matter how waifishly thin the air, it ate at her wet hair and skin.

Naomi stood by waiting for the girl to finish getting dressed. Elaine finally managed to look up into her face, almost sleepily, and mumble, "OK. OK." She grabbed a few limp locks hanging into her face and flung them back into their spots. "Which way?"

"This-a-way," Naomi pointed. Both her hands went flying up, fingers arrowing off to the left.

"OK." At a plodding pace Elaine set off towards the trunk of the tree. Between a curtain of low-hanging leaves, a small array of about five miniature spring ponds bubbled and seethed in the ground from which they came. A somewhat tinier shrub than the large tree that sheltered them bounced above one near the back, a minute light bobbing upon one of its branches as if it were a carnival ride.

Naomi shrugged and followed wordlessly. Elaine took two handfuls of the wispy greenery and yanked them aside, nosing a hole for her head to come through. Her face appeared to have a long, wafting curtain of verdant hair. "Pose! Hey, Posie! Get dressed!"

Posie looked up from where she reclined, resting her head in the dip of her shield. "Huh?" She sat up with no difficulty, pointing out that the puddle she'd managed to grab was pretty close to indeed being such and not an actual pool. "What's that?" She laid back, bracing herself against her hands, like a cherub in a classical painting. "Wuh?"

The creature with the living locks suddenly grew a second head by the name of Naomi. "Your dad's worked himself into a hole; c'mon out and let's help the poor guy."

"What's wrong?" Navi leaned forward, causing her little twig on that bush to sink a little closer to the surface of the water.

"His clothes have gone missing, would you know?" Naomi said. Every time she mentioned the problem it seemed more and more absurd, and she had to battle just a little harder to resist laughter.

One of Posie's pasty eyebrows kinked, showing that she thought it was an odd situation to be in as much as Naomi did. Normally she was a person very respecting of her elders, but the inherent sardonicism coursing in her veins teased her eyes into rolling that instant. "Right. Give me a moment. Just-duck back inside there and I'll be out in a moment, kay?"

Naomi and Elaine obliged, and the curtain was just a curtain again as they shuffled inside of it. Dripping, Posie crawled out into the air that sent little bolts of ice crawling up and down her back. Her outfit was Kokirish, so it was very similar in make to Link's, but she preferred simpler dress. She had an undershirt, but it was a short-sleeved one, and she discarded the idea of tights. If she ever wore anything extra on her legs, it was pants in winter. She had wool socks and knee-high boots like his, and her tunic was proportionally a tad longer than Link's. But it still folded back at the collar. She had her leather belt around her waist, the blue glass beads set in it like impressionist water droplets. And lastly she slung over her shield strap, her sword's scabbard and her shield firmly clamped in place.

Hiking up her belt, she promenaded inside the dome of the tree with Navi on her shoulder. "Ok. This way, right?" She held up a hand and spun in the direction of the pool they sought. It was off to her own personal right.

Naomi affirmed this. "Yeah. Hope Linky-boy's finished putting on her spare ensemble. I'm looking forward to catching him in cold-weather gear. Considering his choice of colors-it oughta be fairly interesting."

"I hope you realize that you haven't got any; and if you plan on following us up Ipanajou you'd better get some."

The Gerudo dusted Elaine off of her back. "No sweat, kiddo. I'm sure we'll find a town or something before we get there that sells parkas."

The three of them abandoned their petty chit-chat to the floor and headed back towards the spring Link had been bathing in. He stood barefoot at the head on the pond, in the clothes he had packed for the later part of their trip. He had on a heavy shirt and pants of an autumn-leaf brown, and a wrinkled-looking jerkin that had just a hint enough or iridescent lavender to separate it from the snow it was made to break. His long ponytail was slung over his shoulder.

Naomi snorted. "Ooh, don't you ooze savoir faire? Really dashing, Link. Stuns me to a lack of words."

"Sharpen your swords, not you wit, unless you want to be on the receiving end of an equal number of snappy remarks." He spat on the ground to the side of his feet in challenge. "I'd rather not loose that tunic. It's one of my favorites-"

Posie still didn't understand some of Link's little obsessions with certain members of his wardrobe, when all of his getups were practically the same anyway. All green tunics with those gigantic lapels and the hat; maybe a red or blue variant on those once in a while. She shrugged. "Right. How d'you wanna find it?"

"Not like we can call for it," quipped Navi. She stood up on her perch, arms crossed.

Link would not be discouraged. Despite the fact that he really didn't have any sort of a plan. "Naomi said she'd lend me her shoes, so lemmie put those on and then we'll. comb the forest. That'll work. I'm sure they're around the springs somewhere. They can't have gotten far, right?"

"In theory," Naomi sighed, and leaned into a tree trunk.

"We'd cover more ground if we split up," Posie said, a few basic ideas coming into her mind and trying to bond as a complete idea. "Me and Daddy. Elaine and Miss Naomi."

"Thanks but no thanks, kid," lamented Link. "I don't care if we're past the traps; too much creepy stuff is lurking in these woods and I'd like to have the full crowd here to take it on."

"But look at it from a tactical standpoint, Link," Naomi urged, who decided that Posie's thoughts were as good as any. "We'd be more likely to find your stuff that way, you know. Besides. consider her split-up choices! You and her? Aren't you touched? Motivated? Compelled to partake in some father-daughter bonding. thing?"

"It's sentimental, but it's not gonna work." He flexed his hands several times before they retracted into fists. "If something freakish leaps out of a bush, and it's on Posie's side of the trail, what's saying it'll be small enough for her to take it on?"

"The kid's got a miniature longsword. She's pretty good at jabbing, and cutting she's OK with, but she does sort of flail. Y'can tell she was brought up by a broadsword user, at least, and this isn't exactly her native weapon, but she's adjusting. I'd say she could hold something at bay long enough for you to come dashing in."

"I'll admit to playing with blade style, but I don't think she's been too confused. But still! She and Elaine basically have the same amount of damage going for them because her sword is about the same length as Elaine's dagger. And would you expect Elaine to be able to defend herself with that?"

Clever Elaine was already on top of that. "Hey, I've been learning Gerudo things since I was two, and she's been learning fencing. We have our specific talents; we support each other's weaknesses. Yes?"

"I'd suggest me and Elaine go together, then, but I'm guessing that you'd flip your lid over that one."

"Yah." Link was at least glad that she was being honest, and knew she suggested making steel balloons. "Not gonna let ya, sweetheart. I know you're bright for your age, but, nope."

"So what SHOULD we do, then?" Naomi demanded.

"We'll still look, but we're going look together. We've still got four pairs of eyes, all on different levels." As if to illustrate a point, he looked pointedly down at Elaine and Posie, and up a few inches at the only marginally taller Naomi. "How hard of a task are we really looking at?"

"Well, if the effort needed in climbing out of this pitfall is proportional to that of falling in it."

"-The point here is that we ARE looking for clothes, after all, which can't have gone too far."

"I believe I already said that," Naomi grumbled, not completely remembering and hoping that what she'd just said was true. She rubbed the side of her shoulder, feeling the wind march from a trot into a gallop as its northern incarnation came down for a visit. She did not like the thought of more ice ahead. She really hoped they'd actually find a town before they got to the mountain.

The four of them set out at an agitated pace, feet trying to keep slow while pulses frenzied along their shortened nerves. Even though he knew he had no choice, Link had failed to estimate the consequences of wearing wool and fur-of-who-knew-what in a moderately warm climate. So, it itched. Rather unpleasantly.

He called them all to a stop for a second to tug at his long brown sleeves, which were catching passing twigs and cockleburs, while Posie asked him for a drink from the water canteen.

She took a few deep gulps of the water; it was going warm but it was nevertheless a relief for her drying throat. It seemed to grow thicker as its temperature went up, almost as if the fever around them were its inverse. It also had to it the slightly sour tang of water that has frozen and then melted again.

It was screwing the cap back on the bottle and looking up, to give it back to Link, that she saw them.

Her astonished noises causes Elaine to pivot her head around on her neck, following the arrow of Posie's eyeballs. Quick reflexes were the only thing that saved her from bursting out in chortles so heavy she would double over as she hyperventilated. Two palms pasted her lips shut; her cheeks swelled and became red as the amount of chuckles contained in them grew. "Oh-my-Goddesses."

"What's so funny now?" Naomi had only barely reached the horizon of their vision when she realized what she was staring at. Her face ruffled. "Oh my."

Link was engrossed with his sleeves still; he didn't have any attention span left to check over what was making his companions so giggly.

Attempting a straight expression, and a voice flat and unassuming, she asked, "Uh, Link, you wouldn't happen to wear green silk briefs, would you?"

His attentions flew from his shirt to Naomi's back. She had called to him without facing him, largely because she couldn't take her eyes away from the tree. Though the unusual item hanging in it wasn't planning on going anywhere. "Why on earth d'you wanna know that!?"

"Because if you do-"-she had to give a little snort to whet her appetite for humor-"-I think we found some of your stuff."

Morbidly, Link dragged his feet in front of Naomi and slowly summed up the sallow tree. Draped over a low branch, shining dully as the wind fluted them, were indeed a pair of green silk briefs. And unfortunately, Link recognized them.

"Ha!" Naomi finally let herself go. "Don't need that question answered. You've gone bright red-up to the tips of your ears! Well, one down."

Thinking about fetching his underwear down from a tree, in front of all those girls, he mortified himself. But he wouldn't dare ask any of them to get it. If anything that thought distressed him even more! Clearly it was showing, too. He felt the heat of his embarrassment churning in his face, and he more than likely resembled a root vegetable by now. He murmured incorrigible and senseless words under his breath; words of distress and slight anger.

Navi piped up. "Well, we found part of your clothes! Best fetch it down, hey, Link?"

Link's lips shriveled back into his mouth and he refused to speak. He shook his head mutely.

"Aww, c'mon, Link, you gotta get 'em down sometime! Link? Linky-boy? Linky Cream Pie?"

He uttered a small cry of outrage at the last name Navi had called him. "Hey! That's Saria's special nickname for me-"-he was so upset he didn't realize the humiliating personal information he was divulging-"- and no one but her can call me that." He snatched at the air, Navi constantly flying out of reach. If he could catch her, he planned to torture her.

"I can make it worse! I know all your nicknames! Blinky, like Arill calls you? Unca Linky, like Click? I can do a good impression of Posie if need be."

He finally stopped, Navi a few inches in front of his face, as if he'd been drilled full of sedative. "I. you. grrr." He finally made a guttural growl with clenched fists. "Alright, but only if everyone else looks away."

Navi had been looking forward to watching Link scoot up the tree for his purloined undergarments, and Naomi wouldn't have minded the chuckle. But Posie and Elaine obediently turned around, and closed their eyes as double insurance against peeking. With all eyes everywhere but on him, Link threw his arms in a bitter embrace around the tree's coarse truck and hiked uncomfortably up it.

He sat in the branch the pants had caught on and pulled his backpack over to his front. The front flap opened and he stuck the offending briefs inside. Once they were safely out of sight, he leapt to the ground and shivered under the recoil. He didn't have fancy heels to absorb the pressure.

"You can turn around now," he beckoned. They did so.

Along the trail they blazed afterward, they encountered no more clothes swinging lazily off of branches.

Presently, Naomi noticed something peculiar growing between the roots of a wan ash tree-unusually perky in the dreary glimmers of the forest; a bundle of tiny yellow wildflowers from which escaped a powerful smell. She temporarily called the party to a halt when she bent down to examine the delicate little blooms full in face.

"That's funny. I haven't seen any grass or flowers anywhere in these woods. Where'd these come from?"

A fat, bumbling, furry little bee interrupted her gazing when it ambled into her line of vision, alighting on one of the miniscule golden platforms that just barely supported its weight. It jilted the flowers into a sway, but the bee seemed to enjoy the rocking motion as it had its fill of nectar from the flower and hummed off.

"That explains the honey," blatantly stated Posie as her eyes trailed the insect off into the yonder. "But the hives."

"Maybe someone around here keeps bees?" inquired Link while another honey bee brushed over the bridge of his nose.

"I think they're wild," sighed Naomi while she stood up. "I see the gooey stuff all over the place, but I haven't seen flowers like this yet. If you were a beekeeper, would you put your hives in a place where your bugs wouldn't have any food?"

One of the black-and-yellow insects chose as its perch Elaine's shoulder, and at first she shied away from it with a start. The creature jumped up and hovered there, its gaze no more than a centimeter wide, and yet oddly appearing dejected and disappointed. Elaine felt this curious fire on her body and walked closer to it, holding out her finger. She was no longer afraid of its sting, for some reason. It landed there gladly, and it gave off a series of clicking buzzes that exotically sounded like laughter. That little bee felt intelligent.

"Hello," she tried, and everyone suddenly looked at her as if to ask, "Who are you talking to?"

The worker let off the feeling of a smile. Somewhere a voice squeaked inside her ear, "Hello!"

They all heard it. Naomi's arms fell lax at her side, and she looked off in bafflement. Remembering the wailing rock, Link just shrugged and smiled. Posie hadn't a clue who she was greeting, but she did greet, with her usual chorus of "Hiya!"

"Who. are. you?" Naomi apparently thought that she was going schizophrenic. Her knees bent all of a sudden and her arms held her body up on the air.

"Oh, I'm only Nafta," the squeaky words replied to them all. "But most people have another name for me."

The bug left Elaine's finger and chose a nearby rock to sit upon. Taking a deep breath, the bee was wreathed in an auburn mist and began to grow.

The bee's middle legs were quickly absorbed into its sides as its body lengthened and waxed. Its wings seemed to grow a harder inner structure beyond its lacelike veins; actual bones were appearing to make the wings more hard-wearing. The multi-faceted bee's eyes shrunk into the retreating skull and became two dark marbles gazing with interest. The bee's mandibles were jerked to the side and ballooned into soft pink lips; the remaining legs elongated into smooth pink human limbs. With no time the bee was in the form of a young Hylean woman, save for antenna and now almost-reptilian wings. She was wrapped in an exotic fur no animal Link knew could produce, harsh and patterned just like a bee's abdomen.

"Most people simply call me the Nymph;" and her voice was in the same branch of family as the Freezair's. "The Nymph of the Springs."

Unsure of the proper way to react, Link gave a quasi-bow and steepled his fingers together. "And I'm sure it's a pleasure, Miss Nafta," he replied, not used to seeing women sprout out of insects.

It was at that exact moment that she chose to make a very unusual comment. "You have very fine clothes, sir."

"What?" five simultaneous voices wondered aloud. Eight eyes found Link, who tugged at the cloth of his present garb.

Plainly Nafta sensed their confusion, for she blithely edified them. "No, I meant your other clothes! Those lovely, soft green ones." she crooned. "Kokiri make, aren't they? They're very pleasant-a sheer delight to wear," she giggled. "I'm particularly fond of those you're wearing, little girl. Just like his, aren't they?"

Posie protectively grasped the lapel of her own outfit. "Yes, but-how would you know what they're like? Unless you-"

"Collecting clothes is a hobby of mine." She said this with all seriousness. She pulled up her long legs and bare feet, curling up on the rock like a mermaid in an ancient painting. All of her visible skin, however, turned a slightly rosier shade of carnation.

"Well, you shouldn't go-collecting-clothes others are still wearing," Link tried to scold her.

"You weren't wearing them-" she defended herself.

"Good grief. Didn't your parents ever teach you not to steal?" Elaine held a stark gaze at the Nymph's face.

"Sorry. What can I say? I am a nymph. Our cousins are incubi and succubae. We have few morals."

"Well, the truth hurts," bemoaned Naomi. She fell purposefully and sat crossed on the ground. "I suppose brutal honesty ain't a terrible trait to posses."

"The truth is only brutal if you don't take pride in it," the Nymph sighed and a struck a pose. "I may have a beautiful, slender body in human form, but would it truly be so lovely if I didn't like it? What if I so desired to be round and plump as the little insects I love?"

"You're changing the subject! That's totally different from stealing," Elaine retaliated, fingering her little dagger by her side and pondering her one foot, clad only in a somewhat-mildewing sock.

"And what would your definition of stealing be, then?"

Elaine shut her mouth up about that one. She would have likely said that stealing was taking something that rightfully belonged to someone else, but then, that denotation made her guilty as charged. True, the wounded Lizafos had given her his dagger in the end, but she had taken it from him at first. The little copper-steel-what was that dagger made of anyway? It was a shiny reddish color, but it was obviously covered in rust. Or some rust-like substance.

"No answer? Just I thought. You don't know. Tricky thing, morality- why do you think I never bothered?"

"Look, can you at least give me my clothes back?" Link strode up to her, not afraid to stare the somewhat intimidating fay creature down. "I'm not asking much; I'm sure you've got plenty of other clothes around here somewhere. Right?"

"Perhaps I do; perhaps you're asking me to walk around naked," she blushed. Link gulped. Those words put unpleasant images in his head.

"No, I wouldn't ask that-I know how humiliating that would be. But if." He swallowed a heavy sigh. Shrugging, he offered, "If I gave you the clothes I'm wearing now, would you give me those back?"

"Surely you don't mean those horrid things?!" She posed like a mermaid on the rock, placing her hand over her heart. "Most certainly not! I'm not interested in giving up these clothes; if that's all you want to talk about, leave."

"Be reasonable, ma'am-"-But the Nymph turned up her nose.

"Hey, I hate to see Linky-Boy in this much torture unless I'm causing it. Speaking fairy to fairy, can't you go easy on my buds here and give us the tunic so we can move on?"

"What connection have you with these humans, pixie?" Nafta scowled down the bridge of her nose at Navi, plainly not holding the lesser forest fairies in high esteem.

Navi shrugged. "Well, I tried to be reasonable." She swung over the side of Link's face on his ear, landing feet first on his shoulder. Tugging the top of said pointy ear, she confidentially told him-"This is gonna come as a big blow to ya, Linky-Boy, so cool it for a little while." She addressed Nafta then.

"These humans are pets of mine." Her hands made great swooping gestures that plainly indicated the entire group. Naomi most of all seemed taken aback by this, though she took it from the rolling of Link's eyeballs that this was actually some sort of calculated move. Clamping her mouth shut, she tried to seem as dumb and ignorant as she expected a pet human ought.

"All of them?" She chuckled, pinching her chin delicately. "My, you've exotic tastes. Gerudo? And your others tolerate that? Fine handling. And I suppose you're ready to take responsibility for their outbursts?"

"Entirely." Navi even bowed formally to the Nymph, who gave a nod of approval.

"Very well then. I forgive you. Were they the only reason you were dragged here?"

"No, not entirely. We were hoping to pass by here. Would you allow it?"

For once, Nafta finally sat up straight, long legs dangling over the rock's smooth face. "Depends. I have to know your alliance first. Hy-Rules, you know," and she giggled girlishly at her own pun.

Navi looked up into Link's face, trying to wear a look of direction on her face. "Play the song of our alliance, Link," she said, leaving her usual endearing tone out of his name. Link was a bit puzzled-Zelda's Lullaby, the song of their alliance, would probably get them past the Nymph, but he wouldn't regain his clothes.

But acting in his role, he had to obey Navi. As a loyal pet, naturally. He reached over his back and felt inside the knapsack for his Ocarina, finally making out its holes among a score of other objects. As he put the blue instrument to his mouth, Navi hurriedly reminded him to "Play as low, as soft, and with as much emotion as you possibly can."

The notes escaped his blue instrument quickly at first, but he quickly snapped up Navi's line and put an immediate bunker on his music. The soft notes were barely audible, but they trilled and frolicked and gamboled in the wind with all the fancy accents and grace notes Link could muster. Their ancestors were deep, plodding notes, but their bass bulk was augmented with surprising agility.

And Nafta was going, going, gone. Out like a light on the rock. Link looked somewhat shocked. How'd Navi know that would work so well? Well, he would grant that Navi knew a lot, if not too many things, and it was, after all, Zelda's Lullaby.

Perhaps it was cruel, what they did to the poor Nymph after that. But after the way she'd taunted, the four of them felt she'd royally deserved it. They hadn't taken everything she wore-she still had her bizarre bee- skin coat-but otherwise, she was bare. Even Link and Naomi ran like school children merrily ahead, Link brandishing his regained tunic behind him like a banner. He still had to change back into his typical garb, but he'd put his old stable boots back on and tucked his long hair back inside his classic cap. Their laughter rode upon the wind, ready to touch the dark woods with its brightness-and taunt the deceptive Nafta when she awoke.

Hearts high in their chests, Link, Posie, Elaine and Naomi felt ready to tackle any challenge the Goddesses threw at them.