A/N: (singing) Shalalalala! (clapclapclap!) Shalala in the morniiiing... oh, what? (stares at reader) O.o WHOA! THERE'S ACTUALLY A READER? HOW AWESOME! (feels loved) ;P

To Selphie Louise: Oh yeah, I know she's not Anju. I just wanted to give her a name. I'm probably going to do that with a lot of people here (maybe O.o) cuz it's going to get repetitive if I keep calling them "the creepy guy" or "the old lady", you know. MM names ftw! :D;;

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate your comments. :)

Note: Every chapter won't have the same length; it'll depend on what I decide to happen when it comes to that certain object Link and Navi are trading. So, if I have a really good idea for one item the chapter could be really long, and if I'm just totally blank on another (or if it has a time limit; I wouldn't have time for an idea then, hehe...), that item's chapter will obviously be shorter and not as exciting. Just fyi!

Okies, here we go. :DV!

+ From Egg to Sword – chap.o2 +

Link didn't like it.

Not one bit.

Those eyes were freaking the heck out of him; the deep, bottomless darkness, the diminutive form, the way the sun reflected right off the corner, making it appear as if the cucco had a suspicious, evil glint in its eyes...

While Link was distracted by the blue animal, Anju had gone back to talking to Navi. "... Yes, he used to belong to my brother, and only nice people can tame him!"

"Really—" Suddenly the sound of a certain blond screaming made Navi whirl around to glance at her partner. Link was currently running away screaming while the cucco pecked repeatedly on the back of his head.

She sweatdropped before turning to Anju, who was, as usual, oblivious to everything. "Nice people, huh?"

Link wasn't the type to be unkind at all. Maybe weird, but in general he always had people's best interests in mind. In fact, he was probably the nicest person she'd ever met. And... well, maybe the most stupid, in Navi's honest, teasing opinion. Frankly the number of words to describe someone like Link was unfathomable...

"Your brother..." Navi started, "he must have been a very pleasant man."

"Oh, yes... in fact, he was probably the nicest person I've ever met!" she sighed as she looked up at the sky, memories flooding back to her.

Link ran past behind her, screaming his head off through a whirl of blue feathers.

Anju looked up suddenly. "It's strange... since my brother left, Cojiro stopped crowing."

"INteresting..." Navi droned. "Yeah well, we're off. Thanks for the cucco. I guess." She turned around and began flittering away. "Come hither, Link!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"COMING— OWW! WHY YOU— AAHHHHHH!" the Hero shrieked and bolted past Navi out of Kakariko Village. The fairy followed, dragging a hand down her face.

x – x – x

Later, in Hyrule Field...

"Eww Link, don't poke it."

"But it just looks so cool..."

"... EWW."

"Here Nav, try for yourself!"

"EW, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Navi screeched, fluttering off in disgust as Link held up his arm to her face level. He frowned, lowering it and then stared at his scab.

"Now it's oozing some yellow water-y stuff—"

"LINK!"

"Yes?"

"Please. Shut up."

"But if you would just take a look at it—"

"NO I AM NOT IN ANY WAY GOING TO LOOK AT YOUR ICKY SCAB FOR DIN'S SAKE KEEP THAT AWAY FROM ME AND STOP TOUCHING IT OR ELSE IT'LL GET WORSE!" she screamed from a distance.

Link rolled his eyes. Navi was so girly. Oh, girls... "Fine. You KJ."

"Don't think I don't know what KJ means, you punk..."

The mare from beneath our hero huffed. Those two were at it again... at least the cucco wasn't doing anything annoying. Actually Cojiro had been oddly silent since their leave from Kakariko. Every time Epona glanced at it, it would stare back with those haunting eyes, tilt its head, and then continue staring. Epona heaved a slightly freaked out whinny before looking back ahead.

The blond looked down at her. "What's up, girl?" She shook her mare. Link shrugged. "Okay..." He paused in his talk, glancing briefly at his guardian. "Where are we going again?"

"Kokiri Forest, to go get some herbs for your disgusting scab."

"Jeez, I was just trying to help out that little kid... why he was in the middle of Hyrule Field at two in the morning is beyond me, but..."

"Link, I'm not blaming you for anything, if at all I'm blaming you for your cruddy dodging. You could've dodged that poe a lot better than you did." Navi said firmly, raising an eyebrow at him.

The blond pouted. "But, it was two in the morning!"

"... Okay look, just, do me a big favor and stop picking your scab. Please."

Link sighed, lifting his arm to glance at it. "It's a scab, it won't bleed anymore..."

"If you keep picking at it, it will!" she snapped back impatiently.

"Why do you care if it bleeds?"

"Because, one, I'm your guardian and I'm supposed to care, and two, I don't want to see it bleed cuz it's sickening and for Din's sake Link, STOP PICKING IT!"

Link hid an evil grin as he drew his other hand away. Navi narrowed her eyes at him. "You're doing this on purpose to annoy me, aren't you..." He shrugged, giving her a tiny smirk from under his bangs. "Imma get you one of these days..."

They continued on in silence.

"... GODDESSES LINK, IF I HAVE TO CUT OFF YOUR OTHER HAND I WILL!"

x – x – x

"Looks like my hand is still in place, hmm?"

"Not for long..."

"What?"

"Nothing. I didn't say anything," Navi murmured, looking away. She glanced back in his arms. "Why did you bring Cojiro?"

"Who knows, we might find someone who can take care of him here." The hero continued through the woods, greeting old friends as he made his way to the shop. He entered, waving at the shopkeeper happily. "Hiya, Fred!"

"Liiiiiink, ol' buddy, ol' pal! How ya doin' these days?" said a small person from behind the counter. He walked over, grabbed a tall stool, climbed onto it and stared at the Hylian face-to-face. He looked down at the blue animal. "What's that?"

"A cucco. You want it?"

"... No."

"Aww."

"Anyway, what's the need for going all the way to Kokiri Forest now?"

"This," Link held out his free arm and Navi turned around to stare out the entrance.

Fred squinted his eyes in half disgust, half interest. "Ooh. That... doesn't look good. I'll be right back."

Link nodded as Fred hopped off the stool and went into the backroom. As soon as he went in, he came back out with a piece of paper. He climbed back on the stool, holding out the paper which had some scribbles on it. Link blinked at it. "What's..."

"Sorry bud, but we ran out of herbs. I have here, though, a map that can show you where you can get them from the Lost Woods."

Link nodded his thanks before taking the paper and leaving the shop with Navi following silently.

In the lost woods, he drew out the map and scanned it quickly. Navi glanced over his shoulder. "Left, right, left, left, straight, right, straight... do a funky dance...? ... Then left?"

"... Do a funky dance?"

"... I guess."

"... Okay... well if it says to do it, then I probably should. C'mon."

Left, right, left, left, straight, right, straight, a funky dance and a left later...

"That was one funky dance."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Oh." Link walked forward, staring at the field of wonderfully scented herbs and flowers. Cojiro didn't stir.

"It smells so heavenly here!" Navi squealed before stopping to sniff at a flower. Link walked passed her, looking for the plant drawn on the sheet. "How come we never came by here before?"

"Who knows..." Link bent down, looking at a certain herb before snatching it up in his hands. "Found it!" Using a little magic, he transformed it into a slightly gooey substance and used one hand to pour it into an empty bottle. (How, you ask? Who knows. Link is just... magical, I suppose. ... Transforming the herb, that is, not pouring it into a bottle. Come on. Anyone can do that.) He poured a small amount onto his palm before stuffing the bottle into his dimensional pocket. Link began wiping it on the scab as they exited the field, paying special attention to rub it in very thoroughly.

"How's it feel?"

"Stings a bit, actually—" he stopped suddenly as he looked around, standing in the middle of four entrances. "... Wait... where do we go?"

Navi looked around, and then face faulted as she realized Link hadn't been paying attention while walking. "Ignoramus!" she cried, "Now we're lost..."

"Calm down, if we just go through a random door it'll most likely take us to the entrance." The blond turned left, coming upon another room with four holes in the wall. "... Let's just keep going."

"... Fine..."

Five minutes later...

"WHERE IN DIN'S NAME IS THE FRIGGIN' ENTRANCE!"

Five more minutes later...

"Move over, fairy boy, let the guardian lead!"

Five more minutes later...

"We're not getting anywhere..."

"... Well, I guess they didn't call this the Lost Woods for nothing!"

"Shut up, Link. Just... shut up."

Even mooore later...

This was getting hopeless! How long had the two been in there, half an hour? A little more? Link grumbled in irritation and Navi mumbled a string of curses under her breath as they continued on through endless pathways.

"Gah! We're never going to get anywhere!" Navi sobbed, turning around completely and flying off through a random hole in the wall.

Link stared after her. Wow. That was so... random. There wasn't even any monologue before it to lead her into running away in the first place... but either way, Link had to catch up before something ate her. "W-Wait Navi! Hold up!" he called, running after her.

He entered upon a familiar setting; a very dark, small clearing with two stumps. One was short enough to climb and another was longer, as if only the main branches of the tree were cut off. Sunlight shone on both of them... something was suspicious about the taller stump. Was that... somebody sitting against it?

Link looked up suddenly as he saw a bright ball of blue light coming towards him. "LINK!"

"Navi!" Link squee-ed happily, crushing his fairy into an embrace. "I thought you left me! I'm so glad you decided to come back!"

She completely ignored that, squeezing out of his grip. "Link, there's some creepy guy sitting by the stump and it's freaking me out. I think we met him somewhere before..."

Blinking, Link freed his friend and cautiously approached the boy, clearing his throat to catch his attention. His head was lowered, deep asleep. He was a thin boy, shirtless, bones visible through pale skin. All he had on were two black bands on his wrists, green pants and black shoes. And my Lord, was he creepy...

Link chewed on his lip for a while, gazing intently at the other boy. Why did it seem as if he'd met him before...?

- flashback -

"... Disgusting."

"... E... excuse me?"

"Everything. It's disgusting."

A young 12-year-old Link stared at the other man in confusion. "Everything is disgusting? Why?"

"Because. It just is."

Link only stood there, trying hard to figure out the man's logic in his tiny head. Navi was trying to urge him to leave however, saying how the man was talking nonsense and it didn't have anything to do with Link's quest in saving Hyrule. Seriously, it didn't. But Link was intrigued anyway.

"The food here is disgusting. The beds are disgusting, the chairs, the tables, the houses... the people are the most disgusting of all. My own father and mother are disgusting."

"But... why?"

"You must be disgusting, too!"

The blond found it odd how he said that last sentence with such glee. Finally the insult sank in and Link gasped, narrowing eyes at the offender. "Hey! Well, so are y—"

"I know. I'm disgusting too. I get that a lot."

"..."

"If you'd mind, I'd like to be on my own here, wallowing in my solitude, reflecting on how... utterly disgusting... everything is."

Link stared at him, open-mouthed and with a clear, 'wtf?' look before being dragged off by Navi to his next destination...

- end flashback -

"Navi!" Link whispered harshly, looking at his fairy. "He's the disgusting guy!"

"... Oh, that nonsense guy..." she flitted over in front of his face. "Is he asleep?"

"I think..."

The blue cucco decided to wake up at that moment. Its black beady eyes glanced at the pale boy, and all of a sudden, Cojiro decided to crow, the shrill tone echoing universally throughout the woods. Link squinted in slight pain and Navi jumped. "What!" she yelled. "What's wrong!"

The pale boy opened his eyes at the sound, and he looked up at the animal. Gasping, he stretched his arms toward Link, mouth hanging open and head tilted as he reached. "C-Cojiro!"

Cojiro crowed again, hopping out of Link's arms and then into the hands of his beloved owner. "Oh, Cojiro! We are reunited at last..." he looked up at Link suspiciously. "But... why... normally only a nice guy like me can tame you..." he whispered.

Link and Navi slowly backed away. "Umm..."

"You!" the pale boy yelled, head snapping up at Link. Link stared back at him in fright. "If you can tame Cojiro, you must be a nice guy! Mr. Nice Guy!"

Navi began laughing. Link swatted at her, then smiled at the watery-skinned boy softly. "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty nice..."

"If you're so nice, would you be as kind to deliver something for me?"

"What? But I—"

"This will disappear if you take too long, so you've really gotta hurry!"

Link looked at Navi, whispering softly, "What should I do?"

"I don't know, I'm not sure if we have time to deliver something for him..."

Biting his lip, Link looked at the pale-colored boy again and replied, "I'm sorry, but I can't."

His arms lowered immediately, head straightening and glaring at Link with a disturbing face. "You aren't a nice guy at all! Get away from me, you jerk!" Then his head lowered immediately.

Link gasped. "Hey! I'm not a jerk!"

The creepy guy looked up at him. "Then prove it."

Navi narrowed her eyes at the blond. "Don't do it, Link, no..."

"... Fine, I'll do it."

"Link!" Navi yelled. She smacked her forehead repeatedly.

"All right! You really are nice!"

"Aww, well thank y—" he was cut off as a small bag was thrown at his face. "What's this?"

"Some weird mushroom. Deliver this stuff to the old hag in the potion shop in Kakariko Village! Now hurry up and leave me alone!"

Link nodded dutifully, turning around to run back outside Kokiri Forest and to Epona.

Navi sighed heavily as she followed the Hylian. Sometimes having the nicest guy in Hyrule as a friend was such a pain in the butt...

+ tBc . . . +

- naGami c.