After the events involving Skull Kid and Majora's Mask had been resolved Link made to depart Termina swiftly, riding upon Epona and guiding her through the forest bordering Clock Town, the thunderous sounds of The Carnival of Time still audible through the tree's behind him. Link had been offered the chance to take part in the festivities, for he had been instrumental in thwarting the crisis that had not only almost caused the festival to be canceled, but almost brought about the end of the world, but he had politely declined. Link no doubt would have received a hero's welcome if he attended the carnival, but he was eager to get back on the road. Link had been on his own journey prior to that most recent ordeal, and while he hadn't hesitated to assist when it became apparent that the people of Termina required his help, now that he was free to resume his quest unimpeded he felt no need to stall for the sake of merriment. Needless to say several of Link's new friends were sad for his departure, for he had not only saved all their lives, but also even helped make their lives better. Kafei and Anju were especially indebted to him for their current happiness, as well as Cremia and Romani.
Of course not everyone was too sorry to see him go. The fairy Tatl seemed most exuberant to see the back of him as he departed, though she wasn't ungrateful enough not to at least thank him for all he had done for her and her brother, Tael.
It was well past evening before the exuberant sounds of The Carnival of Time faded away, leaving Link in the silence of the trees once again, same as before, broken only by the occasional clopping of Epona's hooves. It was then that Link decided to bed down for the night. He wasn't tired, per say, but last time he had attempted to ride throughout the night the lack of visibility allowed Tael and Tatl to get the drop on him. Needless to say, the last thing Link wanted was to be jumped by some wannabe thief again, regardless of whether or not they were in possession of an evil, all powerful mask.
He fastened Epona's reins to a tree once he found one that grew near a sizable patch of grass where she could graze, leaning against the trunk as he sat on the soft ground with his hands behind his head. Normally sleeping out in the open would be a bad idea for any traveler without at least a bedroll, but Link's Kokiri tunic was specifically fashion for life in the woods, sporting several enchantments meant to protect the wearer against the elements and allowing them to at least sleep out in the open in relative comfort. As Link gradually grew groggy, his mind steadily easing into the realm of sleep, he focused on the night sky above and the countless twinkling stars held within its midnight blue depths.
Their twinkling and colors instilled a sense of nostalgic longing within him, for they reminded him of someone very special.
The recent incident in Termina wasn't actually the first adventure Link had ever undertaken. Several months prior to his current journey he had faced a foe just as dangerous as Majora's Mask, if not more so, the cruel king of the Gerudo, Ganondorf, who's ambitions and schemes had allowed him to steal the power of the gods and rule the land of Hyrule with an iron fist. Only Link had the power to face him, revealed to be The Hero of Time, the legendary champion prophesied to combat Ganondorf when he rose to power. After many challenging trials, that stretched beyond the realms of time and space, Link was finally able to beat Ganondorf, sealing him away in the Evil Realm with the aid of the six legendary sage's, the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda, and the companion that had stuck with Link from the very beginning, the fairy Navi.
And it was her that was the motivation for Link's wanderlust.
Directly after Link had vanquished Ganondorf he had inexplicably parted ways with Navi, his little fairy companion just vanishing without a trace. He had searched everywhere in Hyrule for even a hint of her whereabouts, but had come up empty handed, so had made the hard decision to leave Hyrule and search for Navi elsewhere. Even before the encounter with Skull Kid and his own fairy accomplices, Link's journey hadn't yielded favorable results, but he wasn't perturbed, just as motivated to see Navi again as when he began.
'Navi…I promise I will find you,' Link thought to himself as he finally drifted to sleep, the last thing he saw being a shooting star, briefly believing it was Navi fluttering above for a second before slumber fully claimed him.
Unbeknownst to him was that that shooting star was indeed more than it seemed. It indeed represented a companion from Link's past, just not the one he sought.
High above the tranquil forest where Link slumbered a luminous streak of light sailed across the sky. At the head of this phenomenon was a small sphere of light that pulsated like a living heart as it was carried through the heavens by unseen forces. This was no casual shooting star. It possessed not a heavenly rock at its core, no, within the luminous orb trailing stardust lay a consciousness.
A consciousness wreathed in regret, loneliness, longing, and a love that was believed unrequited.
Some leagues from where Link had settled this sentiants made landfall, settling upon the ground with all the flair of a falling flower petal, A small orb of light now rested beneath the leafy canopy above, luminating the surrounding area, dimly at first, but with occasional increases intensity as the pulsating continued, resulting in the surrounding trees being bathed in brief washes of light before the light receded back into the orb. Eventually, however, the orb of light suddenly ceased pulsating and, out of nowhere, seemingly sprouted a long tail which hosted a small fin at the tip from its underside, followed by a pair of diminutive flipper's on either side. Lastly, two eyes as black as onyx fluttered open amongst the pulsating glow, directly above the flipper's. That's when the glow suddenly broke apart into tiny sparkling wisps, revealing a tiny spherical form covered in pearlescent white and blue scales.
The little creature looked around with its oversized, reflective eyes…which quickly filled with tears of anguish.