Disclaimer:
Arnen: Do I own you now? T.T
Link: ... No...
Arnen: Whaaaa! ;-; -sob sob-
Foreword, explanation of different forms of dialogue and transitions, and other such stuff in first chapter.
CHAPTER ONE - Mido's Challenge
The early morning light was streaming through the branches of the Deku Tree. The air had a solemn sort of stillness to it, like the forest was holding its breath. Even the newly-woken birds did not fill the air with song on this morning.
From amidst the boughs of the great tree, a subtle blue glow emerged. A Fairy, a very small, winged person always hidden by the glow of their powerful healing magic, was emerging from the cover of leaves, stretching her small arms. The ambient magical aura about her -- white fading to blue about the edges -- was matched to her mid-back-length hair, which was a dusty sort of navy color that faded to white at the tips and at her bangs. She had the overall appearance of a girl in her late teens, with milk-white skin and white-and-blue eyes. Her ears were very long and came to a rounded point at the ends. For clothes, she wore simple garments of woven grass and Deku Leaves, with a small white feather woven into her bangs. Of course, one would have to look very closely to see her at all. To most, she simply looked like a winged sphere of light, bobbing along through the air. Her name was Navi.
Upon hearing the Deku Tree's plea, Navi alighted from the branch she currently sat upon, taking to the air with a fluttering of her tiny wings. The appendages, while fragile and weak-looking, were enough to allow her to fly and hover in the air. She took off immediately towards the clearing where the Kokiri made their home.
The familiar landscape of the Kokiri Village spread out before her. Huts made from the hollowed remains of trees, rock walls sheltering the little collection of huts like a shell, and a small waterfall cascading merrily down to form a small pool and a narrow brook. She currently buzzed past the Kokiri Shop, a huge building with the roof painted red. A Kokiri girl perched atop the awning over the girl waved at her.
"Hello!" Navi said hastily, flying steadily forward, looking for a certain house. She hovered now above a hill at the eastern end of the village, looking about her. Her eyes caught sight of a hut, really more of a treehouse, and she flew forward. Until she got stuck in a fence, that is.
"Ow!" she cried in her little Fairy voice. 'Maybe I should go on a diet..' she thought as she squirmed around. Within a moment she was free, darting forward and through the entrance to the treehouse.
A little boy turned over in his troubled sleep. His face was covered with a thin layer of sweat, and his golden eyebrows were twisted together as if in pain. His green cap had fallen off in all his twistings and turnings, and his ruffled blonde hair had fallen into his face.
Navi hesitated at the doorway for a moment. She knew it wasn't polite to simply walk into other people's houses, but the Deku Tree had requested this boy.
Fluttering to hover just above his head, she called out a tentative, "Hello!" The boy simply shuddered and rolled onto his other side. "HEY!" she yelled, a bit louder. Landing, she jumped up and down on his shoulder. "Can the future of Hyrule really depend on such a lazy boy?" she asked herself exasperatedly. Finally, the boy gave a groan and began to sat up. Navi quickly leapt into the air.
Still groggy from his sleep, the boy brushed a lock of hair behind one pointed ear. He felt around for his cap and, finding it tucked halfway under his pillow, he jammed it onto his head with a yawn. His sapphire eyes scanned his room dully for a moment, searching out the cause of his early awakening. When he spotted the Fairy, he snapped wide-awake, sitting bolt-upright in his bed and waiting eagerly for it to speak.
"I'm Navi! Pleased to meet you!" the Fairy greeted him with a little bow, the voice telling Link she was a girl. "The Deku Tree wants us to be partners from now on, so, hi!"
"H..Hi, my name's.. Link," he managed to choke out. He was shaking from sheer excitement. Finally, after all his years of waiting, a Fairy had come to him! Now he could show that bully Mido who wasn't a Kokiri!
"Oh yeah.. The Deku Tree wanted to see you, so let's get going, right now!" Navi added, flying over to the door and bobbing up and down in the air. Link nodded and climbed out of bed. He half-ran to a rack hanging from the wall and snatched a fresh Tunic from it.
"Uh.. Do you mind?" he asked timidly, looking not at Navi but somewhere slightly below and to the left of her.
"Oh! No problem!" She nodded and turned away as Link changed. A moment later, he said it was ok for her to look. Navi turned around to see Link gathering up all sorts of things into a bag. Food, spare clothes, soap, toys...
"You won't be needing those," she said. Link looked up, startled, and nodded, walking up beside her to leave his house.
As soon as Link stepped onto his porch, he saw his friend Saria jogging towards his yard.
"Hey, Link!" she cried, laughing slightly as she waved up towards her best friend. Her bright green hair waved in a slight breeze as she tugged down the sleeve of the green sweater she wore under a lighter green sleeveless shirt, panting slightly as she caught her breath from running across the forest.
"Saria!" Link called down, taking a few steps backwards. Before Navi had time to wonder what in Farore's name he was doing, the boy had turned around and done a backflip over the railing of the porch.
This, of course, caused Navi to freak out. Panicing slightly, she dove down after him, pulling out her wings to halt just above the laughing child as he sat on the ground.
Saria, for her part, was applauding Link's antics. "How can you do that without hurting yourself? That's so cool!" she remarked, grinning broadly. Her Fairy, Fal, chuckled slightly.
"Heh, practice, I guess," he said simply, rubbing the back of his head and beaming.
'Oy... Looks like I'm gonna have my hands full with this one,' Navi thought to herself with an inward groan.
"Hey, I've never seen that Fairy before," said Saria, suddenly serious as she noticed Navi. "Whose partner is she?"
"Mine!" Link said proudly, jerking his thumb at his chest. He stood and brushed himself off. "Guess what? The Deku Tree wants to see me too!"
"Link, that's awesome!" Saria exclaimed, going forward to spin Link's cap around so it fell into his face. "Hee.. Your lucky day today, isn't it?"
"Grr..." Link growled in mock anger, fixing his cap and brushing his hair back into place with one hand. "Guess it is," he chuckled.
"Well," Saria said, "If the Great Deku Tree's summoned you, we wouldn't want to keep him waiting! You'd better get going."
"Ok," Link replied with a nod.
"I'll wait for you here, 'kay?" Saria smiled, crossing her arms above her head.
"Ok, I'll meet you back here after I talk to him," Link promised, starting to jog off in the direction of the Great Deku Tree's meadow. "Navi, you can sit on my head if you don't feel like flying," he offered as he ran. The Fairy nodded and promptly perched atop his cap.
Soon enough, however, he was slowing to a stop just on the other side of the stream from the entryway. "Oh, no," he groaned.
"What is it?" Navi queried, poking her head up over the top of his hat.
"Mido," Link grumbled, gesturing towards the Kokiri standing in front of the entrance. A haughty expression was plastered on the boy's freckled face, as well as that of his Fairy partner, Buso.
"What? Him? What's so bad about that little squirt?" Navi wondered.
"I'll show you.." Link muttered, hopping across an island in the middle of the stream and walking up to the Kokiri.
"Hey, Mr. No-Fairy!" Mido snickered, walking up and holding out his hand to block Link's way. "Where do you think you're going?"
"The Great Deku Tree summoned me." Link drew himself up to his full height and tried to look important. "So, get out of my way, Mido."
"No way, loser," the redhead said. "What makes you think the Deku Tree would summon you, instead of I, the great Mido?"
"Uh.. " Link mumbled, looking away. Actually, he couldn't really think of a reason.
"Because," Navi piped up, jumping from Link's cap to hover above his shoulder. "He sent me to summon him. And the Great Deku Tree doesn't need a reason, you respectless little brat!"
Mido looked her over with a look of shock and contempt on his face. "So a Fairy finally came to you, eh? Well, a loser's still a loser, and besides..." his expression grew suddenly dark. "Weird stuff's been happening in the forest. Monsters have been popping up in the meadow. I can't let anybody in there, least of all a loser like you. You don't even have a sword or a shield to protect yourself with!"
"So?" Link growled. "You don't either!"
"Uh, well, that's right, I don't have my equipment ready yet, but..." he quickly scowled at Link. "If you want to see the Deku Tree, you should at least equip a sword and a shield."
"Fine," Link spat, glaring right back at the bully. He turned and stormed off. "I can't stand that guy!" he snarled, almost forgetting about Navi, who was clinging to his hat for dear life. For as long as he could remember, Mido's smirking mug had always been hovering over him, taunting him, pushing him. It was almost more than the poor boy could stand. What was so wrong with him to make Mido act like that? Sure, he hadn't had a Fairy, but lots of Kokiri hadn't gotten their Fairy partners for a long time. Just because it had taken him the longest, did that make him so different?
"Link --" Navi interjected, "I'm sure we can find a sword! And they sell shields in the store, right?" she tried to speak calmly, which by the way is very difficult when trying to hang on to the tail of a giant hat.
Link sighed and stopped walking. "I don't have any rupees though..."
"Well, maybe we should just look around," Navi suggested. "I heard a rumor at the last Fairy's gathering that there's a sword hidden up on the hill, the one by your house."
Link's face brightened with a small grin. "Ok! There is a weird hole in the wall up there, but everyone's too scared to go in 'cause there's always a loud rumbling sound coming from inside. Sounds like the perfect place to find hidden treasure!" He immediately started running, his boots pattering softly on the dirt path, heading towards the hill, the mysterious hole, and the start of his adventure.
---End Chapter One---
Thanks to my reviewers!
Vanwa - Glad you liked it Sometimes the transitions won't be so obvious, especially at the beginnings of chapters, but I wanted to make the prologue easier to read. :3
Nizzi - Yay! - Yeah, it's only the second I've written on here. My first one kinda died 'cause my co-author's connection has gone to crap. -sweatdrop-
Remember! Reviews are what keeps me going! Any suggestions on how I could improve or change any chapters, or ways to do something in the future are greatly appreciated!
Also, this chapter would've been much longer, but I decided it would be better to end it there. If you think I should've gone on and had Link find the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield in this chapter, post a review, and if enough people think so, I'll add onto it :3