As a girl, I fled the world to walk the way she walked, and closed myself into her habit, pledged to her sisterhood till my last day.
- Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, The Paradiso, Canto III
Life coasted like a dream. Luna just lied in bed wide-awake, blankly staring at the ceiling. How much time passed? A week? A month? Three months?
She blinked a few times. No, just a day. Just a single day… Feels like forever.
Kibou whizzed inside and sat on the table.
Luna sighed. I wonder what Vera's doing? Haven't seen her since we saved the baby owls… She forced herself to writhe off the bed—she thumped to the floor.
Twinkling, Kibou hopped off the table and flew over. "You OK?"
"I'll live. I think..."
The day began with Luna helping some children in their raking and basket weaving.
"Morning, Luna! How's things?" a boy asked.
She doesn't reply or react.
"Are you alright?" a girl asked, though Luna was silent.
"We're here for you, Luna, we want you to be happy!" another boy added.
"I think we should just leave her alone, but she sure appreciates your attention," Kibou said, the children focusing on their jobs.
Luna raised her head. "Hm? What?"
After menial work, Luna went for a stroll to the woods. Hm… I can't remember much of today… Oh well, why bother remembering anything when everything feels pointless?
Amidst her thoughts, Luna gesticulated, as if talking to herself. "That's a nice tree, yes… No dandelions here… Where are those mushrooms I thought were here? Nope, not here… Hah hah! Run little ferret, run!"
Kibou turned, seeing a lazy turtle instead. He faced Luna. She rolled forwards over head and shoulders as if whipping herself, always back on her feet immediately.
"Whoa! I never knew you could roll like that!"
Amidst her dreamy ecstasy, Luna rolled now and then with surprising reflexes. She ended up at the village outskirts. Eyes wide, Luna stood upright and looked around. I hope no one saw me randomly rolling around like that…
"Wow! I've never seen that kind of rolling before!" a random, goofy Kokiri girl commented. "I can't even dance, I just fall on my butt, heh heh… Wish I had as much agility as you!"
Luna rolled along as if nothing's happening.
"Don't mind her!" Kibou said as he flew by.
"I think we should get back to picking these grapes," the other fairy remarked.
As the day got busy, Luna ignored other Kokiri as usual, resorting to smiling and nodding when necessary.
Luna headed to the granary. Kokiri here and there happily make costumes and masks for the coming festival.
"Hey, Luna! Excited for the festival?" a boys asked. Luna gave him a ghostly look, he and the others slowly stopping their work.
"No."
"Why? What's wrong, Luna?" a chubby girl asked, putting her horned mask down.
"Nothing," Luna replied with a bemused shrug.
"Do you have a costume? If you don't, there's always someone who can make one for you. Axel is making lots, he can make one just for you, I bet! He's in the shop right now!" another boy said.
"I think you should go see him for one of those, it'll be fun," Kibou suggested.
"I dunno, we'll see," Luna mumbled, eyeing the girl's horned mask.
"I think you really should go see Axel. Who knows, maybe you'll love the festival!" Kibou said.
"Maybe."
Luna entered the granary and looked around "I like masks, tho. I think they're cool…"
After eating, Luna headed to the shop, various kids along the way full of excitement. She stepped across the little stream...
"Hey, Luna!" Someone giggled, Luna flinching. A Kokiri girl sat on a small platform above the doorway, a blondie wearing a headband, sleeveless shirt, and shorts, all green. "Look this way!"
Luna looked up as the blondie's fairy came down.
"Hey there, Kibou!" the fairy greeted. "I haven't seen you for quite a while! Let me guess, you're going into the shop for a mask or costume? Axel likes making them, he does it for fun, he'll have something for you, or make a new one for you!"
"Sounds great! Let's take a look, Luna!"
"Well, whatever…" She entered the shop.
In the opening to the right was a wardrobe, a boy rummaging there. Masks of varying shapes and colors hung on the walls.
The shopkeeper jumped with his palms against the counter to look over. "Welcome!"
Luna ignored the weirdo, gazing at the masks.
"Um...you're gonna reply?" Kibou asked, though Luna remained silent.
The Kokiri boy in the wardrobe retrieved some things. He took his seat on the short stump by the counter, then painted on a long wooden mask white. He was dressed like other Kokiri, though wore a long Phrygian cap. He had black hair, eyes and skin dark brown. His ears were longer than other Kokiri. His yellow fairy materialized, flying around randomly and making weird noises.
"What's she doing?" Kibou asked. He looked and Luna and they shrug.
To the left stood a girl, similar in attire and appearance to the girl outside, a sister? She spoke to a few other Kokiri about this and that, minding their own business even as the shopkeeper hopped with anticipation.
"Most of the things you buy here you can get for free in the forest."
"Yeah, but outsiders who come to shop here don't know that. Maybe for the best, they could get lost in the Lost Woods!"
"I heard that some Kokiri even travel beyond the forest to trade with the grown-ups and other creatures," a boy remarked, the children's fairies watching the yellow one flying about hectically.
"Travel beyond the forest? Those who do die, y'know!"
"I don't believe that. I even heard that, a long time ago, every Kokiri here left the forest to celebrate something at some place."
"Did they, now?"
"Yeah, that's true! I was there! Mido just doesn't want us to talk about it, so that no one tries to leave and never come back. Mido told me that it's more dangerous now than ever before, lots of bad people out there," the girl explained.
Luna smirked but minds her own business (or lack thereof).
"Oh, really? What else can you tell us?"
"Yeah! What else can you tell us?"
"Oh, not here, not now... Maybe during the festival. I can get in trouble talking about the past, especially about back then," the girl replied, eyes low from guilt. They murmured while the yellow fairy continued whizzing about.
Kibou went over and grabbed the yellow fairy, who shook and chimed.
"What the heck are you doing, kiddo!?" Kibou asked.
"I dunno."
Kibou blinked once, twice. He let her go. She continued flinging herself about wildly, sometimes hitting the walls or ceiling.
Axel lifted his head as Luna shyly approached. "Oh, hello Luna, I didn't see you there! Nice to see that your fairy is healthy again, too! I heard he got attacked by bugs or something?" Axel slid his paintbrush between his ear and head.
"Wasps," Kibou and Luna said at the same time, then looked at each other.
"Wasps! I hate those things!" Axel's yellow fairy spat, hitting her head into the wall.
"Heh, Taria is really scared of wasps. She was stung by them herself a few years ago. Poor thing. Took her two weeks to heal. Why is it that you can't find a healing Pink Fairy when you need one?" Axel looked at his fairy as she thrashed about. "Oh, right... I've been making this just for you Luna! Here, take it." Axel handed his mask to Luna.
The mask was big, round and white, like the face of the moon, somewhat like a Venetian mask. Milky gesso gave it luster.
Luna raised an eyebrow. Looks more creepy than cute...
The mask had dark openings for the eyes, resembling craters. The nose and lips were the only features contrasting the mask's symmetry.
"Oh?" Luna held the mask with both hands, the nonliving visage seemingly disappointed with her. She made a weird look then snapped out of the hypnotism. "Thanks, Axel! This is really cool."
"You're welcome! I tried to do something different just for you. I kinda made a mistake, tho. I wanted to make it shaped more like a face, but it didn't work, so I then decided to make it look like the moon. I'm also making a costume for you, a gown like the night sky, but I'm not done it yet. I'm sure you'll love it!"
Luna does not react. Why does it look so creepy? She raised the mask, both pale faces blank and unhappy.
Axel read her look. "Well, some people like their masks to be scary, cute, evil...weird. I didn't know what you liked, so I just started working and hoped for the best. I'm glad you like it, tho! I was worried that you wouldn't. You can also paint it if you want to give it more colors for the carnival."
"Hm, what? Oh, yeah, I guess so. When does the carnival start, anyway?" Luna lowered the mask until she saw Axel, Kibou hovering between them and watching as Axel's yellow fairy bounced against the walls.
The other customers also stared at Taria, the shopkeeper hopping on and on as usual.
"Don't mind Taria, she's always like that, because...tomorrow night is when the carnival starts!"
"Wheeee!" Axel's fairy squealed as she repeatedly slammed into the wall.
Axel didn't react. "I might not even be able to finish your dress. That's why I'm working in the shop, buying everything I need right away, to get everything done as fast as possible. I really hope I can finish your costume, Luna! I also have three more to do."
"How about you give me the unfinished dress, then? I can do the rest, you've done so much with the mask anyways," Luna suggested.
Several Kokiri enter the shop and murmur with the shopkeeper and other customers.
"You sure?" Axel asked, Luna nodding.
Axel turned to the wardrobe, wrestling out a gown of dark blue velvet. Studs of bronze, iron and colored wood adorned the gown to mimic stars. He held it by the shoulders, revealing that the gown was quite pretty.
"Oh, wow, that's...beautiful." Luna's compliment made Axel smile. He folded it over Luna's arm.
Axel's yellow fairy chirped. "I helped make it, too. We fairies with our tiny hands are really useful working on dense fabrics, or knitting in tiny spots!"
"Well done, then! It looks wonderful," Kibou said.
"Honk, honk!" Taria wildly whizzed about again.
With a blank face, Luna happily exclaimed, "This is great! Thank you so much Axel!"
He snickered. "Actually, maybe I should help you carry those things to your home?"
Luna blushed then made a fake smile. "Um, no." Ohh, I hope no one sees me blushing...
Kibou chuckled. "Don't worry, kiddo! You're so pale, everyone can see you turn into a beet from a mile away!"
Luna sighed. "Thanks a lot, Kibou..."
"Um, Luna? Are you sure you don't want my help?" Axel asked. Luna nodded with a blank face. "You really are stubborn!" They chuckle.
"I'll go home, put these in a safe place. Thanks again very much, Axel! See you at the carnival!" Luna spun on her heels and marched off, almost bumping into the other Kokiri, who watched her go.
Axel cocked his head. "Hey! Let me say goodbye before you go!"
"I said bye!" Luna exited, Kibou going after her.
"She must be in a hurry," the girl sitting outside commented.
Axel scratched his head. "Buh-bye, Luna! See you at the carnival!"
Luna stopped. "Ya, bye."
Kibou zoomed back to Axel while Taria fought the wall. "Thanks a bunch, Axel, Taria... I think you really helped cheer her up!"
Axel smiled. "Just glad to help! Quite a lot of us have lots of plans just for her! It'll be awesome!"
Kibou hesitated. Did she hear that? "Oh! Thanks again, guys, see ya!"
Kibou flew after Luna. She kept her head and shoulders low.
The following day, most Kokiri finish the last touches to their costumes, more excited about the carnival than work as children should be! Luna, however, remained in her home, mask and gown on the table, wooden visage staring at her as an equally somber creature.
"Nervous?" Kibou asked as he whirred around Luna's face, getting her attention.
"Yeah."
"Oh? Well, you'll be wearing a costume. No one will know who you are, it's supposed to be like that. Just have fun. Be mysterious!"
"I think I'm mysterious and weird enough as it is, Kibou!"
He snickered. "Good point..."
"But oh well. As you said, nobody in carnival will know it's me. Except Axel."
"Carnival? I thought it was a festival?"
"Carnival, festival, party—whatever," she grumbled.
"You don't have to attend the entire thing. You can just be there for an hour or two and then go home."
"Yeah, I was just thinking of that."
"Glad we think alike, hm?"
"I suppose so. Um, well, I better get up and go do something before that mask gets mad at me."
Kibou flew to the mask as Luna got out of bed. "Mr. Mask, you would not believe how much I get mad at her!"
Luna giggled. "Oh, shut up, Kibou." Her mood dropped as she went outside.
Luna headed to the granary, rather mindless. Amid nodding and absentminded chatting with a few boys, Luna finished breakfast and wandered into the Lost Woods. Kibou followed restlessly but said nothing.
"Do you know why I come here?" Luna asked as she went through a giant hollow log in the wall of rock, leading to other immense hollow logs piercing formations of rock, perhaps ruins from long ago.
"Because it calms you down?"
"I dunno, maybe."
"You don't know why you come here so often?"
"No, I don't."
"Oh?"
"But I like wandering. I like exploring, it makes me feel free and, well, makes me feel good about myself. I just like to be alone." Luna went into another hollow log. Halfway through the darkness, another fairy's light appeared...
"Aw-owf!"
Luna and another person fell onto their bottoms at the same time, their fairies jingling.
The other person was another Kokiri girl, her fairy with a white aura and green along the rim. Both girls picked themselves up, the fairies illuminating their dependents. The Kokiri girl Luna bumped into had blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a green sleeveless shirt, short green dress, belt, and tall brown boots. She had a peculiar hairstyle, bunched into two immense volumes of hair down the sides that passed her shoulders. She also wore a green headband near the back of the head.
"Sorry, didn't see you," Luna apologized.
"Sorry, didn't see you either, heh heh heh!" the other girl replied but seemed pleased.
"I didn't expect to meet anyone out here."
"Me to, that's why I come here often, hee! Wait, I've seen you wandering out here before... You must be very brave to wander all the way out here! Ha!"
"Uh, I've even left the entire forest many times..." Luna mumbled.
"Oh? And you're still alive? Well, you are a real woman! Ha-ha! I also wander beyond the Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods, sometimes. Did you know that whoever gets lost in these woods become a Stalfos?"
"Hunh?"
"Stalfos, they are the undead. Who can see them at nighttime beyond the forest. Anyone who is not a Kokiri, who enters these woods, become Stalfos... skeletons. That's what they get, hee hee! Children who get lost become Skull Kids. I've always wanted to see it happen, but never did. I wonder how it happens? Ha ha! It'd be so cool to watch someone become undead! I only almost saw it happen once, but the young punk scurried off! Teeee! H-h-hee hee hee!" The girl continued chuckling with her evil, creepy face.
Meanwhile, Luna just...stared...blankly...
"Hm, I recall meeting a few Skull Kids some days ago," Kibou mentioned.
"Yes! They are children who became lost, and transformed into Skull Kids! I wonder how it happens, hee hee!"
"I think they become lost and then, unable to survive, eventually die. But the forest, or the spirits of the forest, brings them back to life as undead," Kibou suggested.
"Is that good or bad?" Luna asked. She looked back at Kibou and shrugged.
"Not bad for us. We Kokiri never get lost! Only outsiders become lost!" the girl gladly stated. "Hee-hee-hee!
"Why are you always laughing?" Luna asked, rather irritated.
The blondie's face lost all emotion. "I don't know. I've tried to get lost many times, but it never happened. It is getting rather boring. One thing about it all makes me happy, though..." She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned at Luna, grinning, eyes devoid of emotion and glassy. "Do you think I'm crazy?"
Luna pushed a hand through her own boring hair. "Absolutely."
The blondie beamed, life returning to her face. "Thank you! Oh, and I am excited for the carnival as well! I know you have a lunar costume, it was super cute! My costume will make me look like a Skull Kid... I think I'll go visit the Know-It-All Brothers and try to scare them, see if they can see through my disguise. Ha ha!"
"Umm, okay... I think I'll be going home now." Luna walked on.
"Oh, wait!" the blonde girl called, Luna stopping and turning around, watching the girl run over. "Can I go with you? We are like-minded gals, we should get to know each other. I've never met another Kokiri as brave as you for a very, very long time!"
"Oh? OK, yeah sure." The girls headed home together, their fairies chatting.
Kibou was happy to see that Luna may have made a friend, and these two girls had similar character!
"What's your name, anyways?" the blonde asked.
"Luna."
"That's a very pretty name, it means moon, right? I'm Fado, by the way. I've been around for a long time. It's very nice meeting you, I don't think I've ever met another Kokiri who was so much like me!" The blondie giggled, genuinely a very glad person despite her unusual traits.
They walked along, Luna silent as Fado babbled about how heights made a boy a real man.
"You don't talk much, hunh Luna? You remind me of that boy I knew a long time ago, but I forgot his name. I'll probably remember pretty soon, hee hee. He was like me, blonde and blue-eyed... You remind me so much of him for some reason. Not in appearance or demeanor but just...your soul. He also didn't talk much. I wonder what happened to him..."
"Yeah, she's the quiet type," Kibou confirmed.
"So was the boy," Fado's fairy remarked.
"Ha! The quiet ones are usually the most interesting!" Fado assured, Luna smiling but keeping quiet.
Only birdsong, breezes, and rustling vegetation sounded for a while.
The friends walk along quietly, through hollow logs, looking at insects, other fairies and pixies, flowers, trees, boulders, or anything else that looks interesting.
"Found something!" Fado shrieked, Luna gasping. Fado raised a Green Rupee. "It's perfect!" She tossed it aside for someone else to find.
The girls and their fairies eventually reached a hollowed log leading out of the configuration of rock formations. They emerge upon the upper levels of Kokiri Forest, where the bird nest-like dwellings sit in the trees.
"Alright, I'm going home now, bye," Luna said. Event the best friend cannot be a permanent interest.
"Can I go to your place?" Fado asked cheerfully.
"No."
"Oh. Why?"
"Bye."
Fado watched Luna go.
Kibou whizzed to Fado. "Sorry about her behavior, she can be rather weird at times. She's just shy."
Fado nodded. "No worries. Maybe she'll become a..."
Kibou flew after Luna.
"Fado, did you know that Kibou, Luna's fairy, was friends with Navi?" Fado's fairy asked her as they strolled along.
"Oh? Peculiar. Speaking of her, I wonder if I'll ever see Navi again, too. It's been so long."
"I hope so. It would also be so nice to see Saria and her fairy again, too."
"Yeah, them too. I feel bad for not believing Saria all those years ago. Only she defended Link when the last Great Deku Tree died. I wish I could have told her I believed her before she left. Maybe, one day, I will see them again..."
