Chapter Sixteen

The Minish Woods gave Link the same feeling that the Kokiri Forest did. It seemed friendly and welcoming, with an aura that seemed like returning home. Despite everything that had occurred lately, walking into the woods immediately relaxed him, like a weight had been lifted and he could breathe properly once again.

Of course it wasn't exactly the same. There were no Lost Woods here for him to get lost in and no giggling skull kids or Kokiri watching him from behind the trees.

But it was the closest he'd come to home in a long time. Considering all of the time traveling that he had been doing, Link technically hadn't been home in months. He'd stopped by to see Saria once in a while, but now that he could warp straight to the Forest Temple, he'd bypassed Kokiri Forest entirely.

It had also been tough for him to come back after the Great Deku Tree died. Logically he knew that it wasn't his fault, but Mido's parting words rang through his head every time he thought about it.

Link clenched his eyes shut and shook his head as if he could forcibly shake those thoughts away. It was like Navi said. Focusing on things he couldn't change wouldn't help anyone. He had to focus on what he could change in order to help now.

Feeling more determined now, Link continued his march into the forest. He didn't know where exactly the Picori lived, but he would scour the entire forest if he had to. According to the other Link's uncle, the Picori were tiny. He didn't expect to find a full grown civilization out here and definitely not one that would be regular sized. If they were smaller than his thumb, they wouldn't need a lot of space…maybe they were inside a log or something?

Just to be certain he stooped down and looked in a nearby log. It was entirely hollow except for some leaves and a squirrel that ran away as soon as it saw him.

Link frowned. How did you find a group of tiny people that you weren't even guaranteed to see? He was banking on the fact that he wasn't conscious for 7 years while 'growing up' to give him a loophole and see them, but what if he was wrong? What if that didn't work?

Could he just start calling out for them? That seemed like an incredibly stupid idea. In the Lost Woods you never wanted to do that because you never knew who could be listening. You could be calling out for a friend and then be ambushed by Skulltulas or Stalfos. Wait, did they even have those in this time? Could he be worried over nothing? Or could there be something worse waiting in these woods?

Link really missed Navi. These were things he could normally talk through with her. She always seemed to have an answer, even if it wasn't always the right one, the conversation would at least always distract him from his nerves.

He kept walking through the woods, weaving around trees and looking for any sign of the Picori.

If he was the size of a bug, where would he put his home? It was a random thought, but he went with it. Definitely nothing tall. If he was that small, then the trees would be mountains. Hiking up and down them every day would be a chore in itself, so maybe something closer to the ground? But then what about rainstorms? What if his home got flooded? Could they be somewhere in the middle, maybe on top of a rock or something? What if a bird saw them there and thought they were food? What did they use for protection?

Link sighed. Being tiny seemed tough. He was glad that he never had to worry about that.

He pushed aside a couple of giant leaves in case they were hiding underneath those. He found nothing and frowned. If they were truly that tiny than this could take a lot longer than he thought.

And what if he couldn't see them? That thought kept coming back to him. What if his loophole didn't work? As it was, physically, he wasn't a kid anymore. Maybe that's all that mattered.

Almost as soon as he thought this though, an idea popped into his head and he yanked out his bag, scrambling through his supplies. After a minute or two of sorting through everything he found what he was looking for and held up the item proudly.

The Lens of Truth!

Sure it gave him a headache when he used it for long periods of time, but it would let him see anything invisible! Including the Picori no matter how old he was!

Grinning at his problem solving, Link quickly held the Lens up to his own eye. It gave everything a purple-ish tint and he quickly redoubled his efforts, looking around for any clue as to where the Picori would be.

He didn't expect for it to work right off the bat, but after an hour of searching, the euphoria of his idea had worn off.

After three hours he was back to feeling hopeless. There was nothing, not even a tiny little footprint.

Link grumbled and circled another stump. This one had a crack in the middle of it, but when he looked inside all he saw were leaves. There was nothing to suggest a tiny civilization living anywhere nearby. He was starting to believe that unless the Picori wanted to be found, they wouldn't be.

He sighed and sat down, leaning against the stump. If he couldn't find the Picori, what was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to get home?

He'd been lucky in his adventures before. There had always been someone there to guide him, lead him to the next step. Rauru, Sheik (well, Zelda), Impa. Without them, he didn't know what to do, where to go.

He hugged his legs close to his chest. He'd never been alone before, not like this. Even before he had Navi, Saria was always there to spend time with him. Now he was completely alone and he was lost as to what to do. He didn't like it.

Link buried his head in his arms, trying not to focus on that. It was hard. He kept trying to think about all the good things that had happened, to find anything to cheer him up, but that was difficult to do in this particular situation.

The past couple days finally caught up to him while he sat there and before he knew it, he'd fallen asleep.

"Fi, you mentioned that you came from Skyloft, right?" Ezlo asked. The three companions were sitting on the beach a couple days after posting their letter. The day before Pashli had told them he'd reached the Pirate Ship and that they were on their way to Outset, due to arrive sometime today. Until the hat's question, they'd each been sitting in silence with their own thoughts.

"Correct. Skyloft is the name of the island and village in the sky above the cloud barrier." Fi answered quickly, "The Goddess Hylia raised it up to that location in an attempt to keep her people safe from Demise's army. Why do you ask?"

"Just something I've been thinking about." he muttered, "Minish legend says that we descended from the sky and gave gifts to the people of Hyrule. The gifts were the Picori Blade and the light force."

Fi tilted her head up to look at the hat currently perched on her head the best she could. For someone who had no discernable eyes, she looked remarkably confused. "Please explain. You believe that your people came from Skyloft?"

"I'm wondering if it is possible." he admitted, "There are no Minish alive now who lived through that time. It became a legend to us."

"I cannot see how it is possible." Fi said, "There are currently no Minish living in Skyloft."

"But you said that Skyloft was only one of the islands floating above the cloud barrier." Link spoke up, raising an eyebrow when both Fi and Ezlo looked at him curiously, "Who's to say that they weren't living on one of the other islands that Hylia raised to the sky? If she wanted to protect her people from Demise, wouldn't it make sense for her to put as many people as possible on those islands?"

Fi was silent for a long moment before finally nodding, "Calculations complete. Chances of this theory being correct are 31%. Her Grace did not leave me with infinite knowledge of the land and its people so it is entirely possible that this occurred and I was not aware. That being said, Her Grace raised the land into the sky in the midst of a war. Chances of a proper evacuation for the Minish are significantly lowered when that situation is factored in."

"But it's not impossible." Ezlo grumbled, "What I wouldn't give to have a proper look at our entire history and figure some of these things out."

Link chuckled, "Agreed. I thought my Hyrule had a complicated history and that was before I knew what you two had been through."

Ezlo snorted at that, "I agree. I can't say I envy your Hyrule with everything that you described."

"It's actually a pretty great place when it's not at war." Link smiled softly, obviously thinking of his home, "I was just a goatherd, but it was a peaceful village. We were happy there. I loved hearing stories from Rusl about his travels all around Hyrule, but I never thought I would get to go to any of those places myself."

"Life rarely works out the way you think it will." Ezlo sighed.

"My master always stated that 'variety was what made life exciting'." Fi put in, surprising them. She wasn't normally one to offer anything that wasn't a fact of some kind, "He said that if his life was always the same, it would be boring and wouldn't be worth it to him."

"I can see that." Link acknowledged, "But everyone is different. Some people like the routine. Others can't bear to be in the same place for more than five minutes."

"You've mentioned your master, your Link, multiple times. You must have a very high opinion of him." Ezlo said.

Fi nodded, "He is the most impressive Hylian I've ever met. He was chosen by the Goddess Hylia to defeat Demise, a being of eternal evil. He helped me to become my true form, the Master Sword. On their own, each of those acts requires immense respect, but together? They prove he is worthy of every praise he is given."

"Tell us more?" Link asked. At their questioning gaze, he shrugged a little, "I've heard all about the Link of this world, but neither of you have mentioned your Links very often. I'm a little curious."

"I'm sure that's putting it mildly." Ezlo joked. Link gave him a guilty smile, obviously caught in the act.

"My master…was nothing like I expected him to be." Fi said, turning to look at the ocean again, seemingly almost nostalgic, "I thought that Her Grace would choose someone who was experienced in battle, ready for a possible war. Instead, she chose him. He was a child, still in school, but he was fierce. Determined. He just cared so much. And he grew. He got stronger. He was exactly who he needed to be to save everyone he cared about. And…"

"And?" Ezlo prompted when she trailed off.

"And he was human. So very human." Fi continued, looking down at her sword which was resting in her lap, "And he treated me like I was too. I was never just a weapon to him. I was his friend, from the very first day. He made sure of that. No one else had ever done that, not even Hylia. To her I was a tool for her hero to use, something powerful enough to oppose Demise. To Master Link I was…me."

Fi's voice had gotten strangely emotional at the end of her speech and Link and Ezlo exchanged a look. Fi hadn't gotten emotional before, at least, not to their knowledge. Link took a deep breath and reached a hand forward to lay on her shoulder.

When she turned to look at him, he said, "I'm finding it hard to believe that any of the rest of us Links can measure up to him, but I hope I get to meet him someday."

"I hope so as well." She whispered. "He is a good man. Master Link is simply…good."

"Sorry to break up the moment, but I think they're here." Ezlo said, drawing their attention away.

Link stood up quickly, looking to where Ezlo was, and seeing a large ship on the horizon. Its massive sail was billowing and it was approaching quickly. It would be here in just a few moments. As it got closer, Link saw what looked like a tiny girl standing in the bow, blonde pigtails waving behind her in the wind.

"Well then," he sighed, "We'd better get ready."

Professor: I wasn't planning on posting another chapter today, and yet here we are! It just kinda worked out.
I did want to do a small, kind of filler-ish chapter though. I've been throwing new characters in left and right and wanted this one to kind of focus on where some characters are right now and how they are adjusting/following through on their plans. I also wanted to give everyone a break from all the new characters so that everyone could have a chance to process how things are going right now.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!