The two friends sat in silence for a long time, unable to comprehend what had just occurred, neither having applicable words to speak, and only questions could form briefly in mind before creating more questions that could not even be asked.
A customer waited for five minutes before clearing her throat, capturing Krystal's attention. She bought a trinket and left, muttering under her breath about the service. Krystal's return to reality was alone, and she nudged Link to join her. He blinked a few times and stood upright at the counter. "You have no idea what happened?" Krystal asked, almost nonchalantly. Link could only shake his head, still dazed. He noticed someone sitting in the mall outside the shop as he shook his head, and slowly returned his gaze to an occupied mall bench. A chill ran down his spine when he noticed the purple T-shirt underneath an unzipped black hoodie, but no thoughts could form. Krystal broke his concentration, "This is going to be a rough day, I think i need to close up and just go home... I cant even think. Not after seeing that..." Her thoughts were evolving mid sentence and she looked to the floor and toyed with her toes. "Would you mind...? Can you walk me home?" Link nodded without a thought of it. Still too shocked to recall off hand that he had never even seen where she lived, let alone been invited to her home.
Chapter VII: Unreal Misadventure
More than meets the eye. no wait, is that transformers?
its go time. no, that's some old cartoon.
Besides, its not go time...
Well, stuff is happening, just not as what seems.
Across the river, a few miles from the ranch, Link and Krystal silently strolled beside each other, one caught up in worry, the other in contemplation, yet both were unaware of being followed. Krystal tugged on Link's shirtsleeve when they came up to an intersection and stoplight. "I've... never brought anyone back to the house with me before..." She started, unsure of how to finish. "You... you were..." She struggled, sighed heavily, and looked away, "You met the forest witches. ... Its the only answer. They trusted you to help Cremia, so I have to... I can trust you too. I should expect you think I'm a terrible friend all these years having never truly trusted you, huh?" Link placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to meet his eyes, and he gently closed them and shook his head. When he opened his eyes, tears came down Krystal's face and she hugged him. "I live in the forest, why don't you lead the way? If you think can find the witches again, that is." She smiled, and dried her tears on his sleeve - as a prank but also to put herself in a better mood.
Link recoiled but didn't actually care, he knew she needed to smile so he played along; and she did. The smile kick started their journey as Krystal nudged Link into the river park beside the 3-way intersection where they'd taken pause. "You know the Double LR is roughly east of here, so just keep going northeast till things look familiar. Normally I'd take the trails, but..." She looked around them and then whispered "i think we're being followed... plus i want to see if koume and kotake remember me..." Link stopped abruptly and looked around. "shhsh!" Krystal whispered "keep walking...!" Link bent over to adjust his shoes, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, then continued.
After 3 miles of pathless forest, small unkempt trails started winding and braiding through the forest, and the pair picked a path to walk. "We're close to the ranch. Does any of it look familiar, Link?" Link's response was clearer to him than to Krystal, as he picked up the pace and started marching. He recognized the path the fairy had led him, and he began to jog... not only retracing his steps, but his pace as well. "Link! Hey!" Krystal called out from behind, "Wait up!" she said as she began to run after him.
As they neared the Witches Hut, Krystal had sudden second thoughts: "wait, maybe I should..." She started to mumble as Midna and Twila emerged from the camouflaged forest home. "That's not Koume and Kotake...!" She whispered sternly to Link. Link smiled and emerged from the forestry, holding up a hand in a frozen wave for the twins. "Link...!" Krystal shouted in a whisper.
"Who's your friend?" Midna and Twila asked. Link turned around to face Krystal who hesitantly approached, then with a combination of courage and anger, approached Midna and Twila directly. "Where's Koume and Kotake? They've lived here all my life. I've never met you two." The twins exchanged a glance mixing concern with doubt. "We've lived here with our aunts all our lives and we've never met you-"
Kotake emerged on her broomstick half cackling; half scolding, half teasing. "Enough! None of you children remember each other because you were too little!" Koume rather used her magic to appear beside her sister with a puff of smoke and a cackle. Kotake turned to glare at her briefly. "It's no surprise you'd forget! Such rivals you were!" Koume spoke, ignoring her twin. Both Koume and Kotake looked toward link and greeted him simultaneously, "Hello, Link."
They all went inside the tree home, and were greeted with the sweet and pungent smell of brewing potion. "Cremia is doing well, no? We must apologize, my sister and I." Kotake began, followed by Koume, "You see, Cremia is one of few remaining Hylians who is sensitive enough to be affected by the subtle workings of magic." Taking turns talking, "We had maintained a long and lasting friendship with her after we showed her how to make her own potions, but as the years went by..." they swapped, "... The mushrooms ran dry, and we've been searching for them all over the forest, to give to her, without a problem... until 3 years ago."
Twila and Midna cut in, "That's when a lot of strange things started happening; here in the forest, in corners and dead ends of Hyruletropolis, around the depths of Lake Hylia and it shores, in the Gerudo Desert Wastes, and even deep within Death Mountain. Here, the forest denizens have taken to eating up all our mushrooms and uprooting as many bushes as they can find. In the desert, our family has stopped contacting us; the last thing we heard was they were run out of their home and left to survive in the wastes. A lot of activity in the last 3 years has left our dear aunts terrified of the implications." Their concern for their aunts was both touching and insulting, to which Koume snapped "Terror nothing! We're not scared, just concerned!" Which Kotake argued "Concerned enough to stay locked in our home in the woods and staying well out of sight!" They began to bicker, hovering on their broomsticks, shaking spoons at each other, heading back into the house. "Witch!" one snapped as they disappeared from sight, followed by "Hag!" from the other. Twila and Midna both turned to each other and agreed "Don't ever let me get like that!" simultaneously.
Twila and Midna hovered over the dead and ashen fire pit, Krystal and Link sat across from each other around it, and the four of them chatted about what they were going to do. No one could come up with any answers, and Krystal remembered she needed to get home.
"We'll take you." Said Twila and Midna. "Thanks, really." Krystal started, "But we'll be fine. Take care of your aunts. Link will take me home. Right, Link?" She finished, nodding to Link: nodding to her. They all waved to each other, the twins retreated into the house, and Link and Krystal disappeared on the trails leading back to her home. "We should hurry." Krystal stated.
Deep in the woods, the trail started to become overgrown, and Krystal stopped Link. "Hold on. We're almost there, but this is where it gets tricky. We have landmarks we have to remember to find the house. No trails lead there." Krystal took the lead and beckoned for Link to follow her. They passed a few hollow and creepy trees, wrapped around a boulder that hid another tree, just off an overgrown path from the nearby park.
She wound around the fat tree which blocked the view of a small chasm behind it, further leading off the beaten path and beyond sight. As they descended behind the tree, a Purple Brawler emerged from behind them while he lost sight of their path. He stood around awkwardly, looking for them. Peeked into bushes and around large boulders, scratched his head, and angrily conceded defeat aloud before pushing along the trail in hopes of finding the girl.
"What was that?" Krystal said, looking back at the distant sharp angry outburst behind them. Link looked back a moment, turned and shrugged, then pushed on. The tiny chasm was easy to enter from behind that fat tree, but the ceiling began to close up overhead almost immediately. They were in more of a tunnel than a mere crack in the ground. "If we kept to the trail back there, we'd eventually wrap around back toward the river. Great fishing spot that way. There are also Forest Zoras who live near there. No one knows much about them though, not even Ruto." The tunnel-chasm began to open up ahead and poured in sunlight and shadows of branches. Tapering into the earth was a giant rock jutting in like a sheathed dagger, leaving the exit with a steep climb.
"Careful here, it's easier leaving home than coming back!" Krystal giggled. She veered to the left and used a thick vine to stabilize her climb up the steep rock face, and tossed the vine in Link's direction when she got to the top, "It's easier on that side, but as long as you keep ahold of the vine, you'll be fine." She said, gesturing to the left side she'd climbed, then climbed down on the other side.
When Link reached the top, Krystal was nowhere in sight, while a large log cabin sat in the middle of a sunny glade, surrounded by thick stone and fat trees, submerged in a deep depression in the earth. One way in, one way out. The front door sat ajar and Link felt a tug of panic in his chest. He quickly clambered down and ran to the front door with haste.
Link bolted through the door and fell over Krystal, rolling into her mother and knocking her to the floor as well. Krystal fumed, more confused than furious, "Link! What was that all about?! You just knocked my mom to the floor!" Her mother began laughing. A rounder curvy woman with long braided green hair and a nearly identical face to her daughter. Krystal grinned and stood up, offering her hand to her mother so to help her up as well. Link stayed on the floor, too embarrassed to get back up. "Mom; this is my friend, Link. We met-" Her mother interrupted her with a stiff, upright open palm. "I remember him when you two were too little to remember. It's nice to see that you've reconnected and become friends again!" She smiled.
"Oh! My name is Saria VI. The women in our family have all been named after our ancestor, because she had been a Sage of the Forest Temple and I'm the sixth generation. Krystal's father named her before I had a chance to explain any of this, so we left it at that..." She trailed off. Krystal hugged Saria "It's okay mom, I love my name as much as I love yours!" Saria smiled halfheartedly then realized Krystal was explaining something important before everyone found themselves on the floor. "Oh! what was that about closing the shop early, Krys? You've never had trouble with customers before..." Krystal interrupted, "It wasn't a customer, exactly... But... Something happened to distract me, and without focus, it will be all of the customers. So I figured it'd be better off if we closed early, rather than have bad service all day."
Saria was confused and a little upset, "I dont understand. What could have possibly distracted you all day long? Was there an electrical short in one of the light switches, or the register get stuck again?" Saria folded her arms "You know how to fix the cash register, dear..." Krystal was getting impatient "It wasn't anything technical!" and she looked over to Link, in hopes he could bail her out. Her urgent look was enough to do the trick though for the wrong reasons. Her mother snickered "It's okay, I'll let it go. Just don't make a habit out of it, okay? Maybe you can teach Link how to run to shop together?" She winked. Krystal suddenly realized that her mother was trying to hint at something romantic, and she groaned long and loud, "MOOOO-oooooooo-OOOOMMMM!" And pushed her mother into the kitchen, "Link, you know the way? I think you ought to go home..." She fought herself from blushing.
Link smiled and waved them into the kitchen, left the cabin, closed the door behind him, and took in a deep breath. He stepped off the porch and looked into the trees and skies overhead. Another sigh of relief, and he took off at a steady pace.
Link backtracked from the cabin to the overgrown path and cautiously peeked around the tree. When he was sure no one was around, he hurried down the path, toward the ranch, running as quietly as possible. In his haste, he caught up with a furious shady fellow and slowed down, trying to keep his distance. The man stomped and shouted quietly at himself as he trudged along, so Link pulled back and waited, giving the man ample distance between them.
He casually took the paths' scenery and atmosphere in as he strolled, enjoying the feel of the woods. His casual pace made the departure trip thrice as long as his arrival time, and the sun was careening into the west, nearly ending the afternoon. Emerging from the woods close to the ranch, Link saw a group of Brawlers gathering by the intersection where he and Krystal had entered the Woods. Waiting to see what they were doing, Link assured himself they weren't going anywhere only after several of them dispersed into town, and two remained, casually jeering at traffic.