"Saria... Please! Mido picked these berries himself!" Datl shoved the purple berries towards her charge. The green-haired girl only smiled, shaking her head and pushing them away. Everyday it just seemed as if she got skinnier and paler, as if she was fading away. The green fairy's eyes were dulling with worry. Had she done something wrong?
As if Saria could read her mind, she shook her head. "Datl... What do I have to live for anymore...? I can feel myself being spread throughout the forest... My soul is bonding to the trees, to the temple..." She licked her lips, trying to wet them. Ultimately she failed, though, and just decided to give up.
"You've been sitting on this stupid stump for days, Saria! Start living your life, or does a man control you so greatly?" The fairy purposely skimmed over the part about her soul. It was true, it seemed. Her charge seemed to be making connections to beings far beyond the forest's reach. And if it couldn't reach them, it was attaching the the spirits of the forest as a placeholder. Fear flickered in Datl's form. What if she seperated completely?
"Don't worry anymore, Datl. I'll be fine, really. Please..." She began to whisper the notes of her song into her ocarina, too weak to make an actual song. After a few minutes she lowered the instrument. Taking hold of a leaf that had been plucked by the wind off a tree, she kissed it and released. "They say seven years, Datl. What does it mean?"
Again fear told hold of the fairy. Since when did the forest spirits speak to the Kokiri? They often spoke to the fairies, and most definitely the Great Deku Tree. Since he had died, were they attempting to find a new host? But a Great Fairy would be the better choice, or even just an average fairy at that, than a Kokiri child? The fact that she didn't know what was going on just frustrated her.
After all, the spirits had been silent to her as of late.
"Seven years? The forest spirits... why are talking to you and not us fairies? Saria, they may not be the ones that inhabit the temple..." Saria's eyes grew hard, and she faced her fairy. The look on her face sent shivers down Datl's spine.
"These are definitely the spirits that stay within the Grove, Datl. Do not doubt me or them." With that she turned back towards the Temple and began to play a mourning tune. Datl wondered if she was sad for the forest...
Or was it the fact that she was losing herself?
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"It's nearly time, Nabooru. Are you ready?" He was standing above her, his ginger hair the only thing visible in the lowlight. The woman flinched at the deep, rasping tone of his voice. Why did he seem so angry...? When Aveil had spoken to him, he hadn't been nearly so serious. Nabooru had heard them from the throne room. His voice had been light and cheerful, not so solemn and dark.
"I do not understand, my lord. Time for what?" She kept her voice neutral, her eyes lowered to the ground. Ganondorf let out a rumbling laugh, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at her head. Nabooru jumped back with a yell, taking out her glaive and covering her body with her other arm. He chuckled.
"Easy, Nabooru. I was just testing you. Relax." He dropped his sword on the ground, waiting for her to do the same. She hesitated. Ganondorf sat himself down on the large chair behind him, folding his hands under his chin and patiently tapping his foot on the ground. "Your sister just sat next to me, telling me that I wouldn't kill her. 'I'm your favorite, so you wouldn't put that sword through my neck!' she told me." His voice grew shrill and squeaky as he mimicked Aveil.
Nabooru hid her smile beneath her cloak of hair. The imitation of her sister was bad, but she knew if Aveil had been present she would have nodded with agreement. "Well, sir, I think for myself. Aveil is quite the disappointment in my family..." Ganondorf chuckled again, stepping forward and placing his palms on her shoulders.
"Well, women who think for themselves deserve the utmost respect, hm? I want you to be my second in command, and rule alongside me." He smirked at her stunned expression.
"Sir, I... I don't know what to say... But of course! I can... Yes..." She nodded vigorously. How could she say no to such a deal? Ganondorf bowed his head, his eyes flashing maliciously. So he had the Sage of Spirit wrapped around his finger. Nothing could stop him now, not even the princess herself!
"Then you must help me put my plan into action. We leave at dusk..." Something caught the corner of Nabooru's eye, and she gasped. A great winged beast had been sitting on the shattered stain glass window above them. It had been staring at her before it had departed.
All she could make out was the twisting of its head.
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Meanwhile, Navi and Link barely managed to escape a magic bean salesman. He had held out the pods, shaking them and begging for a few rupees. "Only ten per package! They haven't caught on quite yet, but they will soon!" No matter how many times Link had shook his head, he had insisted on selling the beans, shaking them repeatedly in his face.
It had taken many of the foulest words that Navi knew to get the salesman to be silent. Even Link had been shivering after her rant, and only after hard prodding did he move again. At this memory he glanced at his fairy, who just shrugged within her light. "What? I could have said far worse. Oh, and you're about to step off the side of the cliff." He leaped back with a yell, realizing that his guardian was correct, "Just saying. Don't want you to fall to a watery death or whatever."
Link slowed down after that, carefully manuvering across the natural bridges. After a painstakingly long hour, they reached a small platform with the Triforce etched into it. "I would like to believe that you would play the lullaby here. But it's just a hunch." He considered it before taking out his ocarina and playing Zelda's Lullaby.
The waterfall began to seperate, two metal claws appearing above them. Two blue blurs flashed from within the falls, the only thing visible thing a large blue fin. Link looked at Navi, expecting an explanation. She sighed. "Zoras, Link. They look like fish, but they're really not."
The first of the two popped out of the water, leaping off the fall and gripping onto a large jutting rock. "Well, friend of the royal family... Do you not wish to join us within these halls? Come along, then, into Zora's Fountain!" He jumped back, his tailfin flicking invitingly. Link slowly climbed across the slippery rock bridge. He slipped a few times, but otherwise kept his balance as he climbed into the water.
The force of the falls dragged at his angles, pulling him back into the open. Navi pushed him against the current, her small amount of weight not truly helping. The first Zora grabbed his ankles, pulling him to dry land. His coal eyes were flashing, amused. "I wouldn't stay in the water too long, sir. You aren't one of my kin, and I doubt you'd survive such a fall. Though... if you want to try your luck we play a game on a significantly smaller cliff."
"Thanks, but we're not interested in jumping off cliffs." The Zora frowned, shrugging.
"Very well, little fairy. At the very least, please go see our King. He's been waiting for a representative of the royal family for a while." Link's face lit up, filling with interest. Navi too was curious.
"What about?"
The Zora frowned, stratching his chin with clawed fingers. "Something about Princess Ruto not returning from Jabu-Jabu's altar... She's been gone for about two days now, and he's worried."
Apparently Link looked extremely concerned, for the first thing that Navi said was definitely not sympathetic.
"Hey! Another girl that will fall for you! What's that, five now, you lucky dog?" The Zora scrunched his eyes, confused.
If only Link had stayed underneath the ground in the graveyard.
A/N: What? A double update?
I felt bad for just leaving a five hundred word chapter for you. So, here you go.
Reviews are nice, always :3