Link was woken up by the sound of a flute. Pretty sure that Navi couldn't even hold one of the larger instruments he rose, immediately on guard. As he turned around he spotted a truly horrific sight. There was a creature dancing on a large tree trunk, dancing as it played its flute. Nothing was truly terrible about it except for its face. Or lack of one, as it seemed.
Instead of flesh there was only darkness, two bright red orbs all that Link could make out. He drew his sword, getting ready to pounce. "Hey!" He twisted, still alert, and spotted only Navi. Her usually burning bright glow was dimmed to a low, dark blue. Link could almost make out her figure within the light, though it was as if someone had blurred an image. Her tiny arm pointed at the dancing monster, and she nodded.
"Don't attack him, okay? He's a Skull Kid, a child that lost himself within these woods. Don't add to his suffering by trying to maim him. Maybe we could be friends?" She didn't sound too hopeful, though. Link had a tendency to attack everything that was close to him. Even the grass didn't escape his wrath. The boy snorted, sheathing his sword and running up to the Skull Kid.
It took a few seconds for him to get a reaction. The child yelped suddenly, leaping off the trunk and vanishing before their eyes. Navi sighed in exasperation. "Way to go, hero. You scared him off! He could have helped us, you know!" Her bright glow returned, masking the form that had for just a few seconds been visible. Link gave an inward groan. For once it seemed that his fairy had been beginning to open up to him had closed the window of opportunity.
He blamed the Skull Kid.
Navi had already risen from her resting place on the tombstone, drifting slowly towards the tunnel. She turned towards Link, hovering in place. "You coming?" He smiled, nodding. It was good to see that her mood had just slightly improved. He basically skipped after her, and hummed the song that Saria used to play on her ocarina.
"You see, Link? It's simple enough to play, and catchy too!" He stared at her blankly, eyes barely able to follow her fingers as she covered each of the holes to create music. Her fairy Datl giggled into her palm, her green light low enough to even see her emerald eyes flickering with amusement. The fairy was an unusual one, revealing herself to more than just her charge.
"He doesn't get it, Saria. Why are you even bothering to teach him, anyway? He has not an ocarina nor a fairy!" Link's eyes instictively fell to the ground at the mention of his greatest shame. A fairy had never come to him. Saria gasped, swatting at her fairy.
"Shame on you, Datl! Link already knows that, and soon he'll have a fairy of his own!" She turned to Link, putting a hand on his shoulder. Her friend beamed up at her, causing her to laugh. Datl snorted, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.
"If he hasn't got one now, then he isn't getting one. Kokiri are born with their fairies, Saria. You know this. And fairies cannot exist without a Kokiri. There is only one that I know of exempt from that law, and she suffers a great depression. I wouldn't wish that upon any of my comrades." This got both of their attention. Saria gazed up longingly at her fairy, giving her a pleading eye.
"Can you tell us about the fairy without a Kokiri?" Datl toyed with her hair, sniffing disdainfully. Both of them knew that this was just an act, though. She adored the spotlight. After a few seconds she let out a raspy sigh, turning back towards her charge and her companion.
She settled down on the stump next to Saria, her legs crossed over Indian style as she began her tale.
"No one's sure what happened to her girl, but she lost her somehow. Perhaps she became a Skull Kid, for she disappeared inside the Woods and never returned. The fairy came back to the Great Deku Tree by herself, her wings barely able to keep her in the air." She gave this a second to sink into the hungry Kokiris's minds before continuing.
"Now, when a fairy loses her charge, they usually evaporate and are reabsorbed into the Earth to be reborn as another's fairy or as Kokiri themselves. All they leave behind of their past life is a necklace. Well, this one waited and waited for her explosion to occur so that she could join her charge in death. It never happened."
"When she came to the Deku Tree, he told her that she would serve in this life a great cause, and that as punishment for losing her charge she would remain alive until her task was complete." Saria raised her hand to signal that she had a question. Datl nodded, eyes shining fondly at her girl. Saria swallowed.
"But isn't that showing mercy? That isn't a punishment, right? To continue to thrive in these forests is a great gift!" Link nodded to show his agreement. Datl chuckled at their ignorance, for fairies aged faster than the Kokiri, and while they remained in a child state, they grew wiser as time passed.
"Is it, really? To you it may seem that life is a true gift, and it is. But to live in depression and guilt until you complete your task... Is it worth it?" This quieted the two Kokiri, and they hung their heads in shame of thier question, "Don't feel bad for that question. It was only that; a question." Their heads continued to hang, and so Datl continued after a long sigh.
"She still lingers about the Deku Tree, they say, waiting for her punishment to be over. Play your song, Saria." The request startled the green-haired girl, but she shakily played it none-the-less. Datl nodded, tapping her fingers to the tempo of the song.
"It will be your song, Saria, that attracts the fairy-without-a-charge and her boy in the future. Do not argue with me, just believe me." And so Saria played on, and Link and Datl danced to the tune.
His memory made him freeze in his tracks. Navi hadn't had a charge, apparently, for she had joined him quite willingly, and to leave a Kokiri by itself for a long period of time was wrong to the fairies. Was he the boy in Datl's tale? And what had Navi done to lose her charge? Had it been the Skull Kid that they had seen earlier? No, that couldn't be her. The fairy had spoken of the Kid as if it were male.
As the fairy shouted at him, he decided that he wouldn't ask. If Datl's tale was true, then the memories might cause her more harm than good.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The pair had successfully reached the maze leading to the Forest Temple. Saria's song was growing louder with each step they took, and after defeating a few Deku Scrubs, they entered the grounds. Before the great building with a small, raised section of land with the Tri-force etched upon it. Link had seen the circle before, but hadn't understood what it had meant.
Now that he knew what the Tri-force was, did the Temple have some reason other than to just remain as a monument to the Kokiri of the past? His eyes lingered on it for a moment before her spotted his friend out of the corner of his eye. He grinned and approached her. Datl sniffed at Navi, turning away and effectively flashing the other fairy.
"At least I cover up my rear end, trollop." The two fairies began to scream at each other, getting into a verbal catfight. Link and Saria ignored them, too focused on each other. She had jumped on him, giving him a great big hug before sitting back down on her stump. Her eyes sparkled.
"Link, you've returned! What was the outside world like, huh? Were there lots of people? How about animals? And plants? Were their buildings more beautiful than our own?" At this Navi whirled towards the girl, huffing angrily.
"He doesn't speak, remember? Might as well direct all your questions to me, but I doubt I'll answer them." Datl grabbed Navi's currently unseeable dress, pulling her up to her eye level. Navi was quite small, even for a fairy, after all.
"You will answer my charge's questions, Navi, or you'll wake up tomorrow with a black eye and bruises all over." Navi snorted, shaking off her significantly-less-clothed captor and turned to Saria again.
"Fine, go ahead and ask your questions. I can't answer all of them, though. We're on a time limit."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
An hour and about two hundred questions later, Saria had finally whipped back out her ocarina. Link had taken his out as well, holding it up to his lips. She smiled. "My present was useful, huh? I'm glad you're using it." Her smile was sweet enough to put honey to shame. Link was melting like butter, losing concentration at a rapid rate. Navi put herself in between the two of them, facing Saria.
"Whatever. Just teach him the song already!" Datl chuckled, shaking her head. Navi glared at her rival, which only caused her to laugh harder.
"Let the love birds sing, they say." She grinned, infuriating Navi more.
"Stop speaking in your damn riddles and let me get this stupid trip over with!"
Again Saria and Link ignored their fairies and their bickering, and Saria again had placed the ocarina at her lips. "Follow along, okay Link?" He nodded, following her movements.
Her song was much faster than the one that Malon had taught him, and he struggled with it for a good two hours before finally learning it. Saria smiled down at her pupil, her eye lids drooped as if they had dropped with the sun. "I suppose this teacher has no more to teach her student. This song, which Datl has named 'Saria's Song', will allow you to speak to me whenever you wish. That way we don't have to be together to talk with one another. I know you are leaving again, Link. I don't know what you're truly doing out there, but I hope this song can help you." She gripped her ocarina tighter, closing her eyes and trying to hide her falling tears.
Link reached his hand out, gripping her own. Saria sniffed, smiling at him. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just... be careful, okay? If you get hurt or... die... I'll never forgive you, okay?" She wiped away her tears, and Datl sat upon her shoulder.
"Well, Link, you've made my charge cry. I would usually destroy anyone who did that, but... I'll make an exception of you. Your fairy, on the other hand..." She glared at Navi, who was already exiting the Temple grounds.
"Yeah, yeah, we're out of here. Come on, Link, let's go!" His eyes remained on Saria for just a moment longer before he chased after his fairy.
Her song could be heard coming from the Temple as they left.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
After narrowly avoiding Kaepora Gaebora, the two found themselves back at the gravesite. Again the Skull Kid danced on his tree stump. A much smaller one sat across from his. It was small enough for Link to climb upon. Navi motioned towards it. "Maybe he wants to get on it." And so he did. The Skull Kid looked from his flute, stopping his playing as he gazed down at Link. An orange crevice resembling a smile formed on his pitch black face.
"What does the green-boy want with the Skull Kid? Come to teach him a new song to dance to?" His voice didn't resemble a child's at all, but rather a very elderly man. He rasped and wheezed as he spoke, the glowing embers resembling eyes burning into Link's own. He raised his ocarina to his mouth and began to play Saria's Song. The Skull Kid tapped his foot at he played, then began to play the song on his own flute. His grin grew wider, and he danced again.
"Thank you, green-boy. The Skull Kid now can dance and play to a new song. The Skull Kid will never forget you, okay? If something ever happens, let him know, and the Skull Kid will help you." He jumped off his stump, vanishing again.
A/N: Alright, officially the longest chapter at two thousand ninety-seven words xD Sorry for not updating, I've just started band camp so updates may come slower. I'm trying to stay on the one a day schedule, as it's good for keeping in practice, but I have no idea if I can.
Not too fond of this chapter, really, but I tried. Datl's name does represent Tatl's, but I assume that fairies have a similiar naming pattern? If not, well, they do in this fic .;
Next chapter brings Link up Death Mountain and nearly run over by Goron. Reviews, as always, are very much appreciated ^_^