Chapter Three

Fairy Talk

Sheik and Saria walked into the darkened passage way in search of the fairy fountain that lay beyond. Sheik glanced over at her as they walked. She really was cute. Maybe he should ask her out. But what would Link say? Sheik could hear him now…

"You're dating Saria? The girl that may as well be my sister! You're dating my sister?"

Link was not the sort of person you want to upset like that so Sheik decided that he may just want to leave Saria out of his thoughts. It wasn't until he had made his decision that he realized Saria was staring at him. He paused and turned to her.

"What?"

"I just wanted to know what you thought." She repeated.

Sheik froze in horror. Had she been talking the whole time? He couldn't remember hearing her. What should he do! The twinkling sound of magic caught his attention and he ran for it.

"Look they're over here!" He said and ran around the corner.

Whoo, that was close…He thought as he ran.

He and Saria ran up the edge of the fountain and watched as the fairies danced happily across the shallow water. Sheik cleared his throat and the fairies stopped and turned to them. Saria straightened up taking on her Sage demeanor and suddenly Sheik realized shy she was chosen as the protector of the forest magic.

"Fairies of the forest," She said officially, "we come to you in search of our friend."

"You seek Navi!" One of them said.

"Yes, Navi is why you are here." Another piped up.

Saria and Sheik exchanged looks and then turned back to the playful creatures.

"Do you know where she is?" Saria asked.

"No, we don't know." One said.

"All we know is where she is not."

"But to know where she is not, is to know where she is."

Sheik was getting annoyed with the rhymes. "Fine, then tell us where she isn't." He said impatiently.

The fairies swarmed in the center of the water and began dancing and singing:

"She is not in the forest,

She is not near the river,

She is not in the desert,

This news we deliver.

"She is not at the castle,

She has not gone to the lake,

She is not at the ranch,

Though she has left a wake.

"From this land we call Hyrule,

Her magic is gone,

Help you we can not,

With our powers withdrawn."

With the rhyme completed, the fairies disappeared in a bright light, leaving a very confused Sheik and a very frustrated Saria behind. They exchanged a glance and Sheik sat on the cold stone.

"Well…that helped."

Saria sighed and sat next to her Sheikah friend. "Well…we know one thing," she turned to him. "We know she's not in Hyrule. And if she is, then she's very weak."

Sheik nodded and stared at the empty fountain water. "Where do we go to find her?"

Saria was silent for a while. Then she stood and offered her hand to her friend and they began walking out of the fountain.

"I'll go to the temple and pray. With the help of the other sages I may be able to sense her magic even if she's weak." She turned to Sheik. "I think the first thing that needs done is to seek out the Great Fairies. They are much stronger than the little fairies and maybe they've heard something."

Sheik nodded. "I'll find them and come back to you."

The two friends paused near the circle of moonlight that shone from the surface. With one last smile, they stepped into the light and slowly rose to the top.

Link emerged from the Great Fairy's Fountain with renewed strength. He smiled to himself and thought about the great magic that was just bestowed on him; Magic Bubbles. He was eager to try them out and start getting used to his new body. As though reading his thoughts, Tatl jumped from his hat and glared at him.

"The Great Fairy said the astronomer knows the Skull Kid. Hurry! We need to find a way to get out of town and to the observatory!"

Link sent his best deku glare at her and rolled his eyes. He wasn't going anywhere until he learned how to use his new power. It was then he noticed the boy in the middle of North Clock Town. He was trying (and failing) to pop a large balloon with a picture of Majora's Mask on it. Link grinned inwardly and waddled over to the kid. Since he couldn't talk, he just stood and watched for a minute. The kid, obviously annoyed, turned to look at him.

"...Whaddya want, shrimp? I'm busy practicing with my blowgun!" Link just stood and stared at him. The kid looked to get even angrier and glared. "If you can't pop that balloon, then don't mess with Jim! Grrrr..." He grunted and continued with his blowgun.

He looked up at the balloon. It wasn't that high, surely his new power could pop it. He reared back and charged his magic like the Great Fairy had instructed. He watched as the bubble began forming and when he felt it was big enough, he let go and watched it fly. Just as he had hopped, the bubble hit the balloon and POP! it exploded into many small pieces. Link, proud of his conquest, turned to leave and seek out a way out of town but he was stopped. The boy who was trying to pop the balloon was standing in front of him with a look of awe and a little annoyance on his face.

"Are you the one who just popped that up there?" He asked.

Link nodded, a little unsure of how the boy would react. Instead, he smiled widely and propped his hands on his hips.

"Not bad for a Deku Scrub!"

Link sighed inwardly. He would rather avoid any fighting if possible. The boy cleared his throat and straightened up trying to look official.

"We Bombers have a hideout that leads to the observatory outside town." Link's ears perked up. "You need a code to get in. Maybe I'll tell you what it is!"

Link wasn't sure how to deal with this kid. He could tell that he wanted something, and Link was cautiously waiting to hear what that something was. As thought answering his thoughts, the boy grinned.

"But don't think you're getting it that easily! I can't just tell you what the code is...You'll have to pass my test first. Are you ready?"

Link hesitated for a bit but he knew he had to get into the observatory so he nodded his agreement. The boy, Jim, grinned and shouted behind him.

"All right! Line up, guys!" As if out of no where, four other boys ran to them forming a line in front of Link. He noticed that on each of their shirts was a number: 1 through 5.

"If you can find all five of us by tomorrow morning, I'll teach you the code!" Jim explained. "Are you ready?"

Link looked at each boy in turn and then back to Jim. He nodded again and Jim whistled loudly. All five boys ran off in different directions and Link lost track of them. Soon he was standing in the middle of North Clock Town alone. Tatl was mumbling something under his hat so he removed it and looked in at her.

"Oh, why do we have to play these stupid brats' little games?" Link shrugged, unable to answer to question and explain what his logic was. He just smiled with a 'trust me' look on his face. She groaned and collapsed inside the hat. "C'mon! Hurry up and find them already!"

Link, satisfied that he won, placed his at back on his head and ran off to find the five boys.