Chapter One: Kafei

Something was off about this one. Definitely. Link glared at the person he tried to save. His cheek was red hot after what felt like the worst slap of a lifetime. And here he thought his experiences with Princess Ruto were bad…

To relive it all over again with a boy, nonetheless.

He should have every excuse now to hit him back.

Tatl beat Link to the impatience. She immediately swung herself in front of her partner, "Are you crazy?! He was just trying to help you!"

But as expected, both the fairy and hero did not get a response. This stranger did not have much care in his expression for what he'd done. He was sitting still on an empty bed. His bandaged arms were crossed. It's a new dawn in Clock Town. The magic behind Majora's Mask was no more. Most residents had evacuated since the moon's fall, and they left many of the buildings desolate; it could pass off as a ghost town. Link was still able to settle down in Anju's Stock Pot Inn until help arrived.

Well, it did not look like this brat wanted that type of attention from anyone anyway.

"Who are you?" they received the sheer burn of piercing rubies, "What do you want from me, really?"

"Huh?" Link and Tatl share confused glances.

"You had to have hit your head on something." The fairy kept her distance believing she was next to be slapped, "You were saved by my friend here! We should be asking you why you were found in such a dangerous place!"

Her anger fueled nothing. In return, she earns the boy turning his head away. Again. It nearly sent Tatl over the edge. Link could not make out his expression. Part of it was an obvious anger… but hiding in that same stare was a very deep sadness. It is odd. Link rests a hand on his hip, contemplating.

Getting answers was not going to be easy.

"Tatl…" The Hero warns. She eases and remains floating by Link's side. Pressing was not going to make anything go in their favor.

"We should just leave him behind, Link, I've had it with him."

"You know I can't do that."

The fairy groans, "But he doesn't want us to check on his wounds! What use are we!?"

A valid point. Link did not know how it happened, but bringing the stranger into the moon with him meant leaving him by himself for a small while. He remembered a vast field with what looked like the Tree of Knowledge at its center. Majora must have recreated illusions to drive the games he wanted to play. Some bruises and scratches littered the boy's fair skin. Link felt some sort of pity seeing them.

"I don't need your help." Indigo hair blocked them from reading his face further; the boy's tone grew much colder, "Especially from the liking of you. You both are friends with a monster that ruined my life."

"You've misunderstood." Link palmed Tatl to stay back on this one. He approaches the bed's edge carefully, "Tatl is friends with that Skull Kid, but not with the personality of the mask he wore. Who you encountered wasn't the same person."

"Then who was he?!" The boy grunts, "Don't make me laugh!" His defensive nature focused entirely on Link at that moment, "You can't tell me you're not working for him! You carry a damn fairy along just like he did!"

"Hmph!" The said fairy made herself comfortable on a dresser's top for him, "My good brother Tael doesn't speak ill of the 'imp' you're referring to! You should have given us the time to explain ourselves—pah—looking stupid!"

"Assuming all things that come from the forest are evil?" Link raises his hand and Tatl reluctantly obliges. She left the room. Link and this stranger were now going to speak alone. He just about had it too with the ungrateful attitude, "Just what did the Skull Kid do to you that was bad enough to visit him in person like that? You could have gotten killed."

"He-!" Suddenly, silence. Link watched as his shoulders tensed and trembled. It was clear he must have hit a nerve somewhere, "...forget it..."

Another pause. …What were they to do? Tatl has a crueler personality than Link. Their morals would clash over many situations, but even she wanted to see this boy open his eyes. They would have to try for a different time to get through to him. The disappointment on all sides may have been from misunderstandings and the heat of the moment. Link was beginning to give up. His boot nudges over a chair and he plops down with its back to his chest.

Really…at least he made it out alive.

Link closes his eyes. The Hero did not really care much for the stillness between them. It was mainly the reaction he and Tatl received upon this stranger's waking. Link tried to remember where he had seen him before. Is it possible through all his other adventures and quests, he may have encountered the boy at least once? To think someone else was brave enough to face the moon as close as he had. This act must have been a means to accept whatever fate was coming whole-heartedly. The boy did not want anything but death, it seems...

How careless. Link's nose scrunched with distaste. He must have family worrying about him right now. There were so many residents in Clock Town fearing for their lives during the three dreadful days. Grief was impossible to hide from. If only the Hero made it sooner to the tower's platform. For what reason would someone put themselves under a falling moon over-?

"…you're… injured?"

Link's elven ears picked up on the stranger's voice; it snapped him right out of his thoughts.

"What…?"

The boy frowned at Link once more, "Your tunic, its bloody. Where are your wounds?"

The Hero blinked in surprise; he slowly rests his hand over the largest stained spot on his abdomen. He received a few whips from vines Majora snapped at him. Yes. It was not painful, so long as tender skin was not touched. Link noticed his own silence was irritating the stranger much more than he anticipated.

"My name."

Link cocked his head.

"My name is Kafei." He gritted. Link's face whipped back to a pillow smacking against it, "Get out. I want to sleep in peace."

And to that, Link felt his own brow twitch. He stood and left the room, making no effort to keep quiet. The door slammed so hard that Tatl saw a few picture frames drop from surrounding walls.

…