The Ocarina of Time Novelization Chapter 3

Azure Reflections

By Habuki

Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.
How could water been so plentiful? For the past three days the duo had followed the river's trail past endless miles and miles away from civilization. Persuasion from Navi was the only thing that kept the boy following the path, because in his opinion, he thought that the river was a hoax and there were no Zoras. Had he seen one? No, he had seen a Goron in Kakariko, but never a Zora anywhere near the area. Three moons had passed and gone, going on the fourth sunrise when Link spied upon an entrance where the river led inside.

"Would that be it? Seems more like a cave, though." The structure was obviously made by a person, for it was carved into a smooth square. Link walked up to it, the path would have to be swam.

"Yea, Link, I am sure this is it. You can swim, right?"

Sticking out his chest, he laughed a little. "Of course I can! I am a Kokiiri, I was taught to swim when I was only five or six." Leaping into the water, his swimming skills didn't really come in handy this time, for currents immediately drug him screaming into the darkness. Navi was right at his side, lighting the way as the darkness turned back to the sunlight of the morning. No, not a cavern, it was actually just passage that concealed the contents of the new land from outsiders. The current threw him on the grass, out of the water.

Raising up all the way, he studied his surroundings. To his right was the base of Death Mountain poking out into the grass, on his right was a larger part of Death Mountain, for there was no end to the rocks. No where to stand upon the structure. Up ahead was a small gate with some bombing boulders infront of them? Walking through the contents of a bushel of grass just up ahead, Navi piped up.

"Look, Link." Rustling through the underbrush, the farie came back with a wooden cylinder filled with some green liquid. "You should hold onto these, I am pretty sure they recharge your manna."

"Manna? Oh, my chi. Yea, that's what those faries were talking about?" Gripping the cylinder, he stuffed them inside the same bag as his heart containers, and other little assortments. Searching throughout the grass, Link pondered upon three more heart containers (which he drank two, she drinking one.) That search ended when he came to the boulders, blowing them up with only two bombs in the center of the others, and passing over that owl (Navi made him dodge the stupid thing, so the journey would get a move on.) For the next few hours they wandered until about three o'clock, they came upon a chubby man with no shirt on.

Grimacing, Navi studied the Hylian? Yea, it was naked except some blue pants, and worn flabby, pale skin. A bullish-shaped face was planted in a grin, as it snacked upon some beans. Taking a few steps forward, Link tapped the man on the shoulders. He didn't move, so he got down on his knees, crawling infront of the man, staring deep into those beady eyes. They could have left, except a huge gate was guarding their way out. Unless Link could leap thirty feet to the other side of land, that had broken off from Death Mountain, he was stuck.

Finally noticing the two adventurers, the man leapt up against the gate in fear, leaving a rank breath of beans in Link's face. Backing up a few feet from the gate, Link looked over at the man, now noticing he was a lot younger than he was first presumed. Maybe in his early twenties, so still a man.

"Young sir! Young sir, please don't rob me!"

"R-rob you? What's that?"

"He thought we were going to steal from him, Link." Her veil was on, had been since that morning so it appeared to the young man that some sort of weird energy source was speaking, that freaked him out. With a shout of perseverance, the accusing was about to start.

"A warlock! Please don't hurt me, please! Your magic talks, I can see that with me own two eyes!"

Some eyes. "Warlock? Oh, no, I am not one of those. This is my fairie, you see I am a Kokiiri--get down." Leaping forward, the sword turned face-forward, so it didn't cut, he deflected a nasty ball that was launched out of the earth. The ball reflected back into the water and hit the purple monster that had launched the mucus at the young man. Whatever it was, a purple octopus with a metal cap upon its head and green hues, the ball launched into its nozzle-mouth. Screeching out in pain, the monster's lungs were clogged up, so it fell into the water dead, but kept floating down the river into the stream that led out into Hyrule.

Staring around the scenery, he saw no more of the weird octopuses, and looked down at the man who was shivering in fear. Smiling a little, he sat upon a small patch of land a few feet from the man, speaking out clearly. "Hey, don't worry, it's alright. I am not going to hurt you. Navi! What was that?" Keeping his eyes positioned on the man, he didn't dare look over at Navi, fear the man might bolt off in an attempt to escape the evil warlocks.

"They are called Octaroks, Link. They are octopuses that shoot out their own feces at enemies for a defense. It is hardened so that the ball could break a predator's skull, but luckily their own can be deflected back at them, or killed with a long range weapon." Fluttering to his side, she perked upon his shoulder and stared over at the boy with a bit of concern plastered upon her face.

"Oh, thank you sir! Thank you so much, oh how may I repay you? Hrm, I think I have a way." Reaching deep into his pants pocket, the man produced a small bag with the symbol for plant written on the brown bag only a fistful. Grabbing Link's hand, he scooted up and placed it in- between his palms. Smiling, he nodded to himself, getting himself ready, as if too go. "Sir, these are magical plants, if you put them into the ground, years may pass, but when they reach full growth the plants will grow and levitate to magical proportions."

"Wow.really?" Pulling open the small bag, inside were nine beans of multiple variations with the colours red, blue, yellow, and green mixed inside of them. Closing the cloth shut with the strings attached on it, Link placed it down on the pocket where his rubies were. Patting his sides, he turned to the man to thank him, but was short sided when he noticed the man was gone.

"Navi, where did he go?" Staring down at where the boy sat, a small patch of dirt was positioned down with a small leaf growing out of it. From Link's accusation, that was where the seeds needed to go, the man had planted the first one for him. There was nothing to do now, but wait until he ran into a few more of those patches. Not really his concern, since after this place, he was to head home to the Kokiiri Forest, but with a pit stop at Hyrule castle too.

"He ran away, Linky. Right after you opened the bag he slipped away, I would have caught him, but he dove in the water, and the current changed directions to let him out. Seems that my original plan is a bust."

"Original plan?" Leaning up against the wall, he studied the eight- foot tall gate. Yea, maybe he could scale it, but the bars on top were sharp enough to slice him into tiny pieces of Kokiiri. Slamming his foot against the stone wall on the left, he slumped down a little, staring over at Navi.

"I was planning on us using the current to drag us northward, but he changed the tide somehow. Maybe it changed on itself. We can wait until it changes back, or we can leapt across the structure--better yet, find a way over. If only we had something too glide with."

"Yea, if only we had a glider or a--" His ears picked up a distinct sound. The sound of a bawk was entered in his sensitive Hylian ears. Bursting for joy, the boy shushed her and ran back towards the original gate. Navi stayed back and watched him return thirty minutes later; a good distance for the run, bearing a small white Cucco nestled in his arms. Nodding towards her, she gave a smile and fluttered across to the land Link couldn't leap across.

No introduction was needed for Chicken Gliding lessons. Link jumped off the ledge, using the Cucco for a glider across the solemn path, which was inaccessible until now. When across, the boy bounced the Cucco on the head, letting it rest for the night. A few miles up the path, the sun just setting for the night, he came to the end of the ledge. Across the river, was the main path from before, except it opened up for a long distance, there were no more gates to worry about, were there? Leaping this jump, it being smaller than the previous, Link tucked the Cucco on his shoulders, so it wouldn't get away. Something told him he would need it before the night's end.

He noticed she was a little tired, so he cupped her inside of his hands, giggling. "Navi, should we go on? It's only seven o'clock, but if you are tired we can stop."

"No, no. I will just lay on you, if you don't mind." Seems he didn't, for she was lying on his shoulder before he could even respond to it. Nodding a bit, he patted her aura, letting the chi come off for the night, and wrapping her up inside the collar of his shirt. Tucking her in neatly, hoping the wouldn't fall off, Link pulled the chicken under his armpit and kept his pace out into the beautiful lush Zora's fountain.

Several ledges led up to many pillars that were positioned in the air; the bottom pathways were blocked with those strange Octaroks and numerous gates, so Link took the highroad in favor of the lowroad. Climbing up to the one at his west, the structure went up several hundred feet, connected to the wall and broke off with some platforms stretching out several hundreds of feet. Biting his lip, Link glided too the first one, easily landed on the next structure that was connected to the wall. To his far right was a platform with a piece of heart on it! Gasping, he glided across his early position and landed upon the platform with a simple thud. Laying the chicken on the ground, he grabbed the three fourth's part of the heart, placing the formed heart into its original keepsake.

Two other platforms led to some not-so-interesting places, just structures with nothing on them. The huge one, forty feet across and connected to the right side of the place, was the best place to be. That was where he rested for the night. Link was dead tired, as was his chicken, when they reached the huge area above the other platforms. Only a lone circle of rocks rested upon the earth. Slamming his behind in the middle, a thump sounded to his sensitive ears. This could only mean one thing, so he tried it.

Two bombs blasts later, he found a hole that led down into a hole. No ladder was attached, so falling back first; he plummeted inside of the pit. Death would have been near, but this was on the surface level, so no lava was spread for Link. He reappeared in a bright white room. Up ahead was a white gazebo with water spread upon the surface, but in the middle was a small little bed for him. Was it made for him? Right about his size, but why would a mountain set up a bed for him? It didn't make sense, but was reasoning something Link did at midnight? Dropping all his supplies and weapons (along with the sleeping cucco) on the path that led to the bed, Link trotted to the beautiful comfort zone without his socks or shoes on. Falling upon the bed, dampness was released upon him, as if a spring rain had filled up the bed, yet he wasn't wet.

Muffling him with the covers, the room darkened for him too sleep, but something came about. Millions and millions of pink orbs appeared in the night sky, like fireflies in their migration seasons. The 'fireflies' surrounded his bed, stretching all over him so that he was resting upon the little auras of pink. His realization kicked in when he felt the tongue of something on his leg, shivering he looked down too see the auras were gone and it was millions of fairies. Not a Fairie-sama's fountain, this must have been a fairie fountain. Drowsiness soon took over, the kisses making the scene all the sweeter before he sunk down into unconsciousness.

--------------------

"Au puise" The young sprites cooed out in their most sensual tone to the overprotective guardian. Again she shook her head with no ounce of giving in, letting them comfort the boy, but that was it. They had had a sweet taste, and wanted more of the pie. That simply wasn't happening on Navi's guard of the boy, which was forever. Never had this been a problem for Kokiiri, because the sprites helped warriors outside the forest that was their mission.

He is now a warrior outside of the forest, silly. The voice sounded out in a teasing tone; it had gotten better, but was still a jerk in Navi's opinion. They shared the same beliefs about Link, yet she was more of the playful type, something Navi just wasn't.

I know that, but they don't have too be so--

Oh, you know you want too--you have. Oh, she was getting her fill off of this, whoever this was, seemed to enjoy teasing Navi at this game. It certainly wasn't Navi, no she wasn't crazy, and this voice started appearing the day the Deku Tree had summoned her.

Shaking her head to both the voice and the sprites, Navi turned around from the little fairies and let them do their work. The first order of business was bathing him and washing his clothes, so with close observation from Navi, the sprites washed the boy in the farie fountain water, his clothes done later on. Feeding him with some of the magic that the sprites ate (it would energize him for a day), when Link awoke he was inside of his clothes, up on the bed from before.

--------------------

Dreams hadn't come through his rest, only nightmares. When he awoke from the smoke of darkness, the bed was illuminated all around him, little faries were still trailing upon him, but he was washed and refreshed. Leaping from the bed, cries of protest from the sprites, he shyly leapt off of the bed and felt under his shoulder. Navi! Navi had fallen off! Crying out, he searched around the place desperately, oblivious to the fact he was having a joke played on him.

Watching from the shadows was the young girl, admiring his grace and beauty. The cry had made her come from hiding, reclining upon his shoulder, nuzzling her face into his neck. Spinning around, the boy checked his shoulder and found her peeking over the covers at him, smiling somewhat. The veil was gone for the time being, but her clothes remained the same, it was that everlasting effect, or something. He guessed Navi didn't need baths or changes of clothes, she was a fairie, and they were special.

"Where did you go!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I woke up hours before you and I see you stumbled upon the cavern of fairies, should of warned you about this place. I've never been here, but fairie caverns are usually full of female fairies that are just looking for heroes to take them. Now, since have Tui in your bottle, we can't have one. We should leave before we disappoint them."

Nodding, he waved too the fairies--which was a mistake, they all rushed at the poor boy who had to grabble up his equipment, slap it on, and run out of the cavern with no exit in a matter of seconds. All his stuff was on when they knocked him forward into the center of the hole he had come on. Just like in the graveyards, a small platform was there, that transported him back to the top of the cave. Standing himself up, he brushed the dust of the cavern off his clothes, pulled his Cucco out and stared out at the scenery, it was about ten o'clock.

"They were in a hurry."

"For you, Linky." She peered forward at the place. It was quite an area, all these new places really fascinated the young fairie so much, too think that this place wasn't hardly known to most Hylians, or anyone else for that matter. Navi fluttered forward, nodding for Link too follow, guiding him down the stone hideaway and onto a new platform near the edge of the wall. Not quite what she was aiming for, she was actually aiming up ahead past the blocked canals and steep climbing. Oh well, no one is perfect. Touching down, the wide-awake Cucco wanted away from Link, so he bounced it unconscious again, sliding it into his sack where his supplies were stored.

"That's not very nice, Link."

"O-oh! Hee, I didn't think you noticed." He grinned a little, staring off to the north side, that was when he noticed the logs had some shadows upon them. Not the Octarok shadows, but something else was there, something more peaceful. Walking up too the main log that was connected to the wall (finding out it was some roots), a group of eyes stared up at him in peaceful unison.

"Navi! What are those?"

"Let me check." Submerging underwater with the veil on, she resurfaced a few seconds later, the veil shimmering off. "Some frogs. About six of them, they are just staring at you."

"Frogs, huh?"

"Don't bop them." Returning to his shoulder, she watched him stand in the center of the log and pull out his playing instrument. As soon as the ocarina was revealed, all six frogs popped out of the water and onto six little sub-branches connected to the main one.

"You want to hear a tune, frogs?"

"Yes, good sir, we shall want a tune. If you play some too us, we will reward you with some treasure." The center orange frog regarded. The others were violet, blue, green, red, and yellow, so when Link blew out the tune for the Royal Family, the center frog began to leap around more than the others do. His size went from fitting in the palm of your hand, too an armload. Link gasped a little, almost losing his balance off the branch, Navi repositioning him with her own face amazed.

"Music can sooth our ears and return us to our normal form. Thank you kind sir, here you are." A purple ruby appeared inside of Link's hands, but he smiled sheepishly.

"I can't accept this."

"Why not, kind sir, are you too generous?"

Giggling, he shook his head. "No, it's just my wallet is much too small for this, I can only carry ninety-nine rubies at a time. I only have fifty now, sure, but I will be one ruby short."

"Not a problem, kind sir." The blue one chirped up and whipped back its head throwing a larger wallet in Link's hands. This little bag was twice the size of the first one, and he included his new prize in the bag when he added the rubies in. That brought his total from fifty rubies too one hundred rubies.

"Thank you, frogs. That was quite generous of you." Bowing a bit, he placed the wallet at his side where the other one used to be (the latter in the riverbank now.) The ocarina was still handy, so he played Saria's song too the frogs, followed by Malon's tune that he learned in Lon Lon Ranch. His total went up too the max of two hundred. Bidding a fond farewell, Link made his way past roots and back to land.

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Over the next eight hours, he spent climbing series and series of steps that led one after another past many waterfalls in the distance. The wallet was nice, but Link had wished the landing from before had been made. If it had then they would have reached this place where the Zoras were already. Six o'clock was on the brink of time, only stopping for lunch for fifteen minutes (only for Navi, Link wasn't hungry), when he reached the last area and into a huge hill with rocks for resting points.

"Navi.this has too be.a fifty foot hill!"

"Come on, sweetie, we are almost there." A pat on the shoulder she gave him, before helping him climb the hills. Her help was sometimes lifting him most of the distance, sure she could have carried him the entire way, but these were exercises to strain his muscles too their maximum.

At nine-thirty that night, a long bridge was met from the paths of no more hills. Hills were the last thing Link ever wanted too see, so the thin bridges were actually a save from the Goddesses. Each wasn't that stubby, so he was across the first in five minutes, running to the next one in the distance. When both were accomplished, the path took a twist of turns, with no accusation to the pun. The path seemed to go in five different directions, but really the grassy earth was looping around itself in five different twists. A giant waterfall was at the base, but his best concern was the corner.

Another one of those cracks of land was on the earth, but what rested upon it was none other than the second heart piece of this land. Grinning, he took no heeding and glided down his Cucco at the heart piece, otherwise not being able to reach it. Letting the chicken go, it flew off in the distance, trying to escape the painful memories of ever traveling again. Blowing out his breath, he turned to Navi. "Fourth piece."

"I thought we were on the third?"

"No, I got one last night using the Cucco, that's why I kept it. I had the feeling we might need it." Some adjustments in his pack and the heart container were absorbed into each of them, giving them a little bit more strength. Navi tested her powers by lifting Link through the loops and setting him in the middle of the waterfall. Down below his feet was a small stone square, with a box having an inscription on it. It looked like it was carved a while ago, and Link read the verse.

Sleepless Waterfall

The flow of this waterfall serves the King of Hyrule.

When the King slumbers, so too do these falls.

"Slumber? I wonder what it means." Navi pondered the thought out loud, as Link sat down on the platform and stared forward, listening to Navi speak aloud. These riddles weren't that hard, but all it took was some thought to solve them. Growling, he laid down upon it and stared forward into the waterfall, it was moving too fast for them too jump, he would make it, but the fall and the current speed would kill him.

"King of Hyrule, maybe they mean the lullaby? Impa-san did call it a Lullaby, maybe this is a riddle, because most people don't know that it is a Lullaby, even if they got a hold to the tune." Link thought out loud towards Navi's direction.

"Yes, if the lullaby puts the king to sleep, maybe it would put the falls too sleep, or cease them to stop moving. That's it, Linky, you are good at this!" She giggled a little, tugging for him to stand up, but he refereed to sit and play. Pulling out his ocarina from his satchel, the boy blew the tune of the Royal Family, watching as the waterfall dried off. The water came from onto Death Mountain, it was weird, but it was all gone all at once. There was no little stopping motion; it was so sudden it scared Link.

"Ready?"

"Sure, we may get caught, Navi, we really aren't supposed to be here." Shrugging a shoulder, he grinned a little. These little escapades were growing upon the boy, his fear still existed, but maybe the courage was finally revealing its true colours. Leaning for her, he blurted out.

"I am starting to like danger, anyway." Gripping her with his hands, the boy jumped the ten feet to the side of the waterfall, surprised too find out that it was made of stone. Darkness embedded the sky as it turned darker and darker, seeming the pathway to get also the midnight flush. Gulping, he trenched forward deep into the hidden city of Zoras.

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A domain was the only way to explain this place. After they emerged from the long corridor of darkness, the two entered a large place carved straight out of Death Mountain. The entire place was made of stone, not a bit of grass or anything else from the outside riverbanks. A winding road stretching down a few miles, and after following it, they saw that it led down into the city (or what was best described as a city.) Entirely the place consisted of a huge lake stretching across several hundreds of feet, looking as if it were many meters deep. Too deep for Link to dive in, but he could swim, not that swimming was a choice at this point. All that was in the lake was a waterfall that led up and a large boulder in the right- hand corner of the lake, and one more near the waterfall.

Shivering a bit from the cold, Link headed down towards the small shop, opened to the public, but first stood upon the carpet in the front. No, the carpet wasn't the reason to be down there, but a small torch was the reason.

"Should I try my manna?" Backing from the carpet, singing was something he didn't need, he moved towards the torch.

"Yea, give it a try, this place has to be below the temperature of Hyrule." It wasn't a snowy mountain region or anything like that, but pretty cold for a place where civilization existed. Not to be even compared to the dungeons that Link had faced, he was just cold, that was all. Spreading his legs, the boy crossed his hands, slamming his fist into the ground. Out erupted the red flames from the dust, spreading towards the torch, but when it hit, a chiming sound came out of the middle of no where. Navi recognized the sound, speaking.

"Link, the torches, it is another one of those puzzles. Light yourself a torch and find some places to light." Moving towards his pack, she came out with a Deku Stick, lit it, and places it between his palms.

The lad ran forward, water almost making him lose his balance, but realizing that it was only the shallow region of the water. Coldness stopped right above his boots, so he waded to the next torch in the middle of the water. Placing the crimson flames upon it, he noticed another region, hidden behind the waterfall where two torches stood. That was the piece of pie, for when he jumped past the deep in, saving the torch from wetness, his fire went to the other two, making another chime come about. Whisking around his feet, as out of no where, a large chest appeared. Bowing to his knees, the boy pried it open, coming upon a piece of heart.

Sticking it inside his satchel, Link made his way past the water, noticing there were tiny fish in it, but something else caught his attention. The water was swirling back and forth in different directions, not like a whirlpool. It was as if a person was swimming at an incredible speed. Moving to the edge of the shallow, the boy sat on what seemed like a cliff yelling out a call of hello.

Flurrying from the water, something jumped right infront of him, armed with a spread from both of its hands. In the shallow water, he got a full view at the creature, and boy what a view it was. Six feet of slimy scales adorned over Link, the skin wasn't really a reptilian scale, but more of the skin type amphibians had. A muscular male of this race, blue was the colour of the skin, except on the fins at its sides and the fins attached to his arms, those were green with white spots upon them. His basic form was a human with the skin of a fish, fins upon his hips and arms, plus his feet were webbed like a ducks. The most unusual feature were his eyes had no pupils in them, only a strict deep blue stared down at him, a tail attached to the back of his skull, matching the colours of the fins.

His weapon of choice was a pointy blade attached to a wooden pole, and this spear was aimed right at Link in a way of unfriendliness. The spear launched forward, Link jumping backward into a wall, his shield ricocheting him off wall into the spear's direction. Spinning him in the air, the spear connected with the shield, slamming him back against the wall. Rolling to the right, his blade went up when he spun around, hitting the wood of the spread. Farore's blade went into action, cutting the spear in half, making the fish-creature gasp out in a bit of fear. Before Link could go in for the kill, Navi flew infront of the creature, holding her hands out in both his and its direction.

"Wait, wait, wait! Please, sir, we come in piece." Navi unveiled herself to the Zora, he stared at the fairie in fascination, fairies were not something common to whatever this thing was, or so it seemed. Curiosity escaped the thing, which poked the empty pole at the man; the wood was very unknown to Link. Deku wasn't known out here, so maybe they were from some other trees, for he had seen others. "I demand to know why you are here! You have no permission, and you certainly aren't royalty, how did you sneak in!" The wood poked at Link, who slapped it away, whining a little. The thing didn't hurt, but it certainly made him uncomfortable, so he spoke.

"We used the tune of the Royal Family that I learned from Zelda-sama, we are after-" He didn't finished his sentence, before the guard threw down the pole and lifted him upon his shoulders, laughing jovially. Before Link could even finish, the guard raised his hands and yelled out something in another language. Heads of all kinds, mostly with tails upon the backs, appeared at the water, nodded and went back in. Changing direction, the guard headed up past the shop, to the winding path that led upward, turning forward and stopped infront of a long winding path of stairs. Sitting the boy back on the ground, the guard stared down at him.

"Our outside waterfall had stopped so I believe your story. I am truly sorry."

"Oh, it's fine, now could you just give us the st--" the joyful guard, whose expression turned a bit sour, interrupted Navi.

"Now normally we would have a party in the celebration of someone from the Royal Family visiting, but we can't. Alas, our princess gone missing and we are searching desperately for her. This entrance leads up to our Zorian King; you may ask talk to him personally. Again, I apologize for the misinterpretation." Bowing in an apology, the Zora leapt off the stairs to his doom. Gasping, Link jumped towards the edge, watching the man fall gracefully into the water. Blowing a sweet sigh of relief, he pulled himself up, staring up.

"So, those were the Zora? I don't think we maybe able to get our jewel for quite a while." The young fairie stared on ahead, as the Kokiiri slimily climbed the pair of the stairs that winded sideways, turning back up forwards for the hundreds of feet into the air. He guessed they climbed to the path of the waterfall inside the domain, for when they reached the front, he heard the fall of water.

-------------------- This was not well; this was not well at all. Something had happened to her, and all he could blame was that damn man from the desert. He had visited the Zoras a few days ago, somehow entering the place with the tune of the Royal Family. After the waterfall had parted, he greeted them with such a kindly manner, that the king was ready to give up the stone. His daughter was the one who had protested this whole thing, claiming that she felt a bad aura about him, proclaiming that something terrible was going to happen.

After discussing the matter with the bred of his late wife, the king decided that it was a good choice to keep the stones that were assigned to them by Naryu. The agreement was discussed with Ganondorf, whose expression remained pure, that was until the end of the discussion when it was simply put like this: we aren't giving the stone too you. Enraged in a manner not known to the Zoras for years, the man promised revenge on the king, and on his daughter for knocking the king' "foolish mind astray" as he put it.

The Zorian guards had to drag that Dragmire away from the Domain, but they were killed in a matter of seconds. Dragmire raced for the two royalties of the Zoras, but did not touch them; he simply raced out beyond the King and headed towards the Lord Jabu Jabu's home. After moving himself, the king sent his guards to check out the area, and after days of swimming, they found no trace of Ganon.

Lord Jabu Jabu was the same as usual, a bit grumpier than before, but no harm had come to him. It was concluded that the Jabu Jabu had either swallowed up the Gerudo, smashed him or the Gerudo knew magic and preformed a simple warping spell to escape the place. The Zoras, after all, were planning on putting him to death for insulting their king.

That was all a few weeks ago, but now, as he sat weeping the missing of his daughter, the king knew not what to do. Some commotion was found downstairs. Since no one came to warn him, he guessed it did the Zoras find just a misguided clue? Footsteps clad up to his chambers, that not of the Zoras. At first, he feared the Gerudo had killed all the Zora and was here for the stone, except these steps weren't as heavy as the Ganondorf's were. These steps were light on their feet, as if a child was coming. Still, they were shoes, so he knew it wasn't his Ruto.

Bracing himself for the intruder, the man was surprised to see that it was indeed a child! A young child of the Hylian descent, maybe a messenger of the Royal Family was here? After the Gerudo had left, he had sent out his strongest warrior that was promised to his Ruto when she came about age, but no word had come to him. Still, it was strange of the king to send a child; he may have had a sword and--was that a Hylian shield? How could a mere child brace it? Those questions fondled him, along with the little girl upon his shoulder. Not a smaller child, but a miniature adult.

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"Whoa!" His expression filled a 'o' in his mouth. Up there was a platform in the center of the room, but around the left corner, there was an entrance that had to have led to the top of the waterfall. The main attraction wasn't there, because moving to the top of the four-foot platform, two torches ablating him with heat; the boy grasped reality of above. A fifteen-foot wall was at the top, a path to the right leading up to the wall, where beautiful gates of gold adorned the passage beyond that. In the center of the passage, blocking it, but also stopping most of the water from sliding through, was a Zora. This was no ordinary Zora; however, this thing had to be at least thirty feet tall.

The beast resembled the guardian in some ways, but different in others. His skin was all blue around him, except upon his swollen neck. No fins were found on his thighs, but that robe of royal colours may have hid the ones on his hands. Crimson etched with gold was laced around his body, exposing his stomach and everything below, but adorning his shoulders and back. This ones eyes had actual pupils, and the whites shone through at the new coming boy, where giant fish lips puckered up in an expression of grief. Gills that resembled mustaches exposed to the area, where a tattoo that somewhat resembled Daruina's was right below the lips. Lastly, a crown of gold sat on top of his head, a red jewel sparkled forward, obviously not a sapphire.

"Ho, ho, ho, now who is this?" Hands went to his chin, in though, exposing mounds of flesh, but no fins were attached to his upper appendages.

"I am Link, of the Kokiiri, I come in piece. But I am in search of something."

"Are you a messenger of the Royal Family?"

"Yes, and no. I am not a messenger from the family, but I do know them." Giggling nervously, the boy peered around the room and saw no guards. That was good, for guards may not have known about him and accidentally killed him. The ones in the lake looked like citizens, so where was the army? He had read of the war between the races, and the Zoras were formidable foes.

"Let me explain this, Link," Navi spoke up, floating up to the king, stopping a few feet from his face and speaking. "I am a Fairie from the Kokiiri forest, and my friend here is a Kokiiri."

"An ancient child of the woods, my, my, I thought they had died out. You have all been so isolated for the past years, but I am surprised to see a fairie. Besides the healing, you never see them neither."

"Hee, anyway, we were sent on a mission from the Princess to collect the three Spiritual Stones, we have collected the forest from the late Deku Tree--." The King interrupted, he had personally met the Deku Tree back in the olden days, showing that the King was pretty old, older than most of the other Zoras.

"Late? What do you mean, he has died?"

"Yes sir, the evil Ganondorf had poisoned him with a monster called Gohma. This spider we stopped, and received the jewel as a reward, then asked to travel to the Princess. She taught the tune and told us to collect the other two stones, now we have the ones from the Great Daruina, now we need yours."

Staring down at her face, then down at the boys, he nodded. "I can see your eyes, you are both very courageous, not an ounce of vile is in your aura. I would give it too you, but you see, my little one is gone from me."

"The princess? Oh, the guard told us about that. They were searching for her, is Ganondorf responsible?" Link interrupted, plopping down on the platform, to the surprise of both Navi and the king. She was about to protest, when the king chuckled loudly, his laugh killing the entire domain, letting the guards suspicious down about the mysterious boy.

"Yes.Ganondorf Dragmire is quite responsible. I believe he is, for he swore revenge and now my little Ruto has disappeared. She has her hands on the Spiritual Stone; it was a gift from my late wife, so you need to find her to get hold of the jewel. I am sorry, but I do have something for you, you see that entrance to my right?"

"Yes sir I have seen that, but what about it?"

"There is a female Zora there who will challenge you to dive down and get her rubies, accept the challenge and win. If you succeed, and believe it isn't very hard, you seem to possess skills. Anyway, if you win, then she will give you a scale of our kind. That doubles your length of passage. How far can you dive?"

"Last time I checked, three meters." Navi looked onward at the conversation, letting them converse.

"Then you shall dive six with the scale, your fairie will possess the ability to let her veil let her breath as long as you can. Now, go on, find word of my daughter and I shall reward you with the jewel of the water."

Bidding his farewell, Link bowed to the giant king and leapt off the platform into the shallow water. Waiting for Navi to return the thanks for them both, and join him, the boy groped her with his fingers while heading out into the left entrance they had seen from before. The water waded for a few yards, before he came upon the entrance of the waterfall, where a lone Zora took with her arms crossed about her chest in a resting position. The female Zoras didn't have the tails in their backs, plus, this girl had the mounds that female girls of every other race had. The other naked ones had been all right, nothing was showing, but here, he had to stare away. Moving a few feet up, he tapped her on the shoulder very lightly. Nothing at all, so he hit her arm a little roughly.

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Eyes popped open, again no whites in the eyes, those blue hues darted at him in hatred. That was before she noticed that it wasn't a little adolescent Zora who liked to pull tricks upon the girl with the worst job here. Everyone could dive, and they even got to keep the rubies! Shaking her head in confusion, she rubbed her eyes with her arms, they still had fins and everything, like the males, but they were a bit longer.

"W-what are you?" Kneeling down a bit, she pulled his hat back, stroking those blonde tresses to get a small feel of him. Never had she seen something so mysterious, the Hylian King she had seen, but he was old and creased with wrinkles. This one was pure, about the princesses' age, with the most beautiful hair she had ever seen. Those five digits moved his hair back, smoothing her fingers throughout them once more, before rising she, and smiling a little. "So, what brings you here, young one?"

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Wow, they were really soft. The surprising thing was that the skins of her fingers were soft. When the embrace was done, she asked him a question, so he stared back at her with a down look expression. Yes, he knew that Navi was right at his side with a boiling temper available for this Zora, it must have been that the creature was paying attention to him, but it was new to her to see hair and tan skin like this. Clearing his throat, he stared forward.

"We are here for the scale of your people, we want to take the test."

"Ha, that is why you are here. I guess the king sent you out on the mission, well all right. I am going to throw down fifty rubies into the water below, now you must dive down and get them--Eh? Don't give me that face, cutie. The water is so soft here that it won't hurt you, I believe you have seen us dive off. I am telling you that the impact won't crush you, as it would other water. You dive and get the rubies--it is only three meter water--then you return them back to me and I give you the Silver Scale."

"How long do I have?"

"Fifty seconds, but not to get back up here. I can see you perfectly and I will call time when you get all of the rubies, plus you can keep the fifty rubies."

"Alright, throw them." He walked to the edge, bearing his arms to dive down, but she pulled him back near him.

"No so fast, young one. The price is twenty rubies for the play, you will earn it back in the jewels, so don't worry." Letting the boy cough out twenty rubies, she threw down the two red ones, and two blue ones. Clapping her hands, she threw him off the edge of the waterfall.

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Navi was quiet the entire scenario, because that one just didn't need no expression for thought. It was as if she blanked out of the message and ignored the conversation, but her emotions flowed through, the reason that Link had noticed her literally steaming. Now that stage was over from the time, because when she heard Link's screaming, her stillness let through, and she peered at the crying boy. Gasping, she gripped him, but couldn't get a hold before they hit the water before.

It wasn't over, like that woman had said, for the water felt as if he had only fell from three feet, instead of the usual miles up. Her grip let go of Link when he hit, she floating in the air, and watching the boy dive deeply into the three-meter water, searching desperately for something. Oh, wait--the scale appeared to her mind, and she dove under with him, searching for the jewels too. All at thirty seconds, Link and Navi appeared holding all the jewels, when the girl yelled out 'time!' She guesses that initiated the end of the session, for Link was swimming to the shallow mark, herself having trouble keeping up with him.

"Did we win?"

"'Course. We had fifty seconds, I did it in thirty-two. Pulling out of the water, he was drenched from head to toe. It seemed the powder Saria had mixed was long gone, but the effort was worth it. I guess she didn't know it would have taken too long to reach this spot. Sloshing herself off, the girl followed Link up past the winding stairs, bypassing the sleeping king's chambers, and coming to a halt right infront of the lady from seconds before. Overall, he raced up the paths in thirty seconds, sticking twenty of the rubies he gave away, letting her keep the other thirty.

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"I told you to keep all of them." The Zora woman said, reaching out her hands, making a small scale appear incased inside a small little tube. Sticking the extra rubies back at her side, she smiled a little, presenting him with the scale of her people. It wasn't her own, but looked fresh when it was contained inside that small watery bubble? Maybe, it wasn't a tube that was for sure.

"Couldn't, didn't have enough room. Hee!" He grabbed the scale pressing it up towards his body, but the reaction caused him to gasp a little. The little scale disappeared from his grasped; appearing down on his opposite wrist the bomb flower was on. The insignia of the Zora (that was placed on the King's neck) now appeared on his other wrist. With those two insignias, it was as if he was accepted from both races. Maybe the Deku shield was the one from the Kokiiri tribe, but since his shield was burnt-- he was pressed away from that race. It was true; he was pressed from his own race, except for Saria.

"Alright, I am going to go, but.where do I use this?" He had started heading down the path, past the king, and was now on his way down the stairs, the woman was following him, her shop closed for the night.

"Why, you use it to reach Lake Hylia, but the gate is closed for the night. I am sorry about that, we all sleep underwater, but you can always sleep on that rock outside." She spoke, lifting him up a bit, letting his fairie coil up at his hat for the night. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she pointed forward.

"The one in the water?" Navi intercepted, she was resting on the hat, not in it.

"Yes, Fairie-san. It is very warm on the rock."

"Urm, there are no covers." Link spoke, the Zora had dove in the water, wavering towards the rock. It was quite silent, for the other Zoras had disappeared to their underwater homes for the night.

Setting him upon the rock, she leaned forward, nuzzling him with acknowledgement before disappearing inside of the water. Blinking, the boy took off all his equipment off the large rock, laying down for a few seconds, then nodded to Navi. "She wasn't lying."

"What did she say? I just thought she kissed you." She trailed off a bit, resettling upon hat, peering over the crest of it at him.

"She said it was soft and that I wouldn't need that covers, since they didn't use them. It is soft, so I guess we can sleep here tonight, hee! You trust them, Navi?" Stretching upon his back, the boy used his satchel as a pillow, laying his sword, shield, and side pack off at the edge of the boulders. Not so far as it would fall off, but enough so he couldn't kick it in his sleep.

"I guess we should, Linky-chan. I don't know, I do trust the Zoras very much, but I don't trust her one little bit." The crease was too small now, so she planted herself upon his chest, sitting at the top of it, still a good distance away from her. Hrm, she couldn't help but stare forward at the boy as they talked the next few hours, eventually him falling asleep in the talking. When he finally succumbed to the evil temptress of unconsciousness, Navi coiled in the collar of his shirt, kissing his cheek gently. Giving into her own pleasure, another kiss was planted upon his lips, letting the darkness take her over.

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By morning he was up again, but this time a bit earlier than usual. When dawn first cracked its wings in the river of the Zoras, he was awakened by the ancient fish people and escorted right too the king. Chatting with the king for a few minutes, his stomach began to growl, for his potion was dissipated from the day before. Promptly asking for a meal, he was given a large fish, and a smaller one for Navi. Thinking it was cannibalism, he asked about it, but was given the answer that they weren't fish at all. Zorians were actually a race of evolved mermaids from the ancient legends; it had to do with a Hylian fisherman.

At a quarter past nine, he was escorted down the halls towards the center of the lake; there the guard from yesterday stared down at the youth, asking questions to him. Such questions were his origins, the Kokiiri tribe, the other tribes he had visited, and other things of that sort. The real deal was the Zoras never traveled out of the regions of Lake Hylia or the River, so the Hylians, Gorons, Gerudos, and Kokiiri were foreign to them. After a recount of his battles, with some of the smaller Zoras, he was asked an important question. Would he find the princess?

"I guess I have too, might as well get started. Urm, where is everyone looking? Surely she isn't in this domain."

"Lake Hylia."

"Lake Hylia! Lake Hylia is past the Kokiiri Forest, how do you get that far?" Navi bewildered in amazement. Link may not have had an overview of Hyrule, but she did. It was a clear fact that the area was hundreds of miles away from the Kokiiri Forest.

"A secret passage," the guard from yesterday answered. Where they were sitting was on the steps, the lake of the domain right below, and grabbing the boy, the guard leapt down into the waters below. Submergence was weird, for as he held his breath, they swam down to the bottom of the river and through a passage that wasn't hidden before.

The intensity of the farie cavern and the graveyard filled him once more, as the warping from the Domain to a Lake hundreds of miles away, occurred. Reappearing in new surrounding, the water much cooler than at the Zoras, the Zora swam to the top, left Link there and disappeared back into the warp-hole from which he came. Grasping for air, Link swam to the top of the water, Navi right at his head, while they stared around the place, amazed. The place was huge; this lake made the size of the domain's lake look like a puddle. It was almost like an ocean, but the water spread out for miles and miles.

Fortunately, the warp point was at the beginning of the lake, so they didn't have to swim but a few miles to reach the shore. When breaching the shore, Navi took a glance around the place, reporting back in a full five minutes. That was quite a while for the ever perusing fairie, the area was just that big. It seems there was more than a lake around here, a whole observatory was available.

"How much, Navi-chan?"

"The back of the lake reaches the ending curl of Death Mountain. I didn't imagine it was so huge, my goodness." Lifting upward, the guardian came a few feet forward and placed him upon the landing arch, that was barely underwater. Raising her hands, Navi explained that this was the only land in the entire region, a small island was at the back of region, but only a lone tombstone and a large tree stood there. Also, it could be reached by a rope bridge that stretched out as far as the eye could see, another island in the center was connected to the bridge, yet another tombstone was on there. Moving onward, there was an observatory behind them, where nothing in particular was there, except a scientist that lived amongst the aquatic creatures, a strange fellow indeed.

"This path stretches outward, as far as I can tell there are some gardens over to our right, and a small house where I think we can rest for tonight, if we get delayed. To our left, past the observatory was a land bridge that led to some grass, but the real feature is there is another waterfall. Nothing's hidden under this one, yet it led into Gerudo Valley." Her eyes lit up a bit, Dragmire's home.

"G-Gerudo! Are you sure? You mean Ganondorf's home!"

"Yes, but he isn't there. Plus, I doubt we could get in, I heard they are a bunch of thieves and you need a pass to get in. Anyway, let's search the lake for something on Princess Ruto, shall we?"

"Mmhm." Diving off the landing mark, his search started out by swimming a few miles north, working his way back and forth for some sort of clues. Navi took the same approach, except they went over towards where the gardens were shown from the ocean, searching there. No clues would turn up for hours at a time, each time he ran into small little things such as jewels, complaining Zoras, or bumped into Navi. Going their separate directions, it would have been better to scout it together, yet they needed to do this fast and get that gem.

Finally scouting out ten miles from land, the two of them met up once more, but decided to stay together. It was 'better this far out' incase they got misguided by the wind. Working together proved more efficient, the more jewels they found, the better and closer they thought that the outcome of the search was coming. Time really passed that day, no one stopped for breaks, unless Link got a cramp or felt he was about to drown, then he stopped for a few minutes. Pure horror was a great way to describe that day at the lake, after that, Link didn't like water too much.

When they started it was about nine o'clock, but when they finished it was around ten o'clock. No, not ten o'clock as in an hour later, but ten o'clock as in thirteen hours later had passed since the time they had left the lake. All the other Zoras had gone in at about around seven for the night, the warp being shut down after ridiculous warnings from guards all around, that monsters came out at night. Link just shrugged a shoulder at them, but now at around ten-thirty, he was back at the place he had dove off of, near the portal.desperately searching. "Link! What's that!" Blowing a bright green, she fluttered underwater at a glass casing entombed under a large rock. Link had to squint a little to catch the flow, and shrugging his shoulder, dove under the water to grab the object. A few minutes later they both emerged with a glass jar in their hands. Another one of those bottles like the one Anju gave him, and like the one he got from Malon.

"A bottle.that's it! We've been searching for hours and that's it!" Crying out, he crawled out of the water, crawling towards one of the patches of grass, taking a gentle rest into it. Navi was right at his side, sighing a little too, examining the jar. Yes it was another jar with a casing, some small paper stuffed inside--paper! Doing a double take, Navi grabbed the bottle and pried it from Link's soft arms, they felt like jelly.

"I think I am going to be wrinkled as a prune the rest of my--Navi? What is it?" Before he even noticed, she had the bottle halfway open. Staring forward, he watched her yank out a small sheet of white paper, hardly visible in the moonlight, let alone water.

"Link, I think we found out clue. A message in a bottle!" Throwing the jar down upon the soft grass, she spread the note before them, reading into it. Written in Hyrulian, at least it wasn't written in Zorian, but before she could read it, Link pondered her with some questions.

"Message in a bottle? What do you mean? What's that?"

".When people are lost at sea they send a message in a bottle for--"

"There is no sea, we are trapped by Death Mountain--" Link was touted by Navi interrupting him.

"If you let me finish! It is a sign of help, now be quiet. All right, here is what is says." But before she could read, the letter seemed to change, the text mixing itself up into a few little different runic, Navi swore to herself silently, pushing the letter back in the bottle and slamming it down into his satchel. Scarlet struck out on her face, as if she had been played a cruel trick upon. Link's face slashed concern, as he picked her up and stared at her.

"What is it? Navi."

"They changed it--damn. They changed it, it must be magic. It was in Hyrulian, but now it is in Zorian. We will have to wait until tomorrow." Flinching as she swore (Navi never swore), Link nodded a little, relaxing his head upon the bushels. Nothing was peeking through the pushes, so he used the thing as a bed, the house up there did look comfortable, but it stretched out for a two-mile swim.

"Sorry." He smiled a little, curling her frustrated body up in his hand, feeling the tenseness, he rubbed her small bit. That made a moan escape her, nuzzling against that large hand, yet keeping some of her sternness up at herself. Yet, she couldn't help but looked over at him, smiling a little for showing his compassion.

"It's not your fault. I have a feeling Ruto-sama didn't write that. I believe the note, but Ganondorf may have written it. How else would her letter have gotten out if something swallowed her, they did say Jabu Jabu was a person. I think Ganondorf has discovered us--he may have been watching us since that day we saw him."

"You are right, we should get out of the open, shouldn't we? Since we are right near the Gerudo Valley, couldn't he send an assassin out too kill us?"

"We should leave, but I highly doubt an assassin could make it out here just yet. Gerudo Valley is a two-day journey from here, not to mention this is Zorian territory and they might kill the treaty they have signed."

"Treaty?" Forcing himself from the soft patch of land, Link began to walk with her over towards the lake, a mile was the distance towards where the shore gave the shortest route, so he took his chances at walking. Sea legs were not something that Link would ever acquire. Not pushing away from the conversation, he paid attention to her as she explained something.

"Saria taught you history, right?" After receiving a nod, she went on. "Well, you know the war between every race that ended about a decade ago, well after the war they all signed a treaty. The Gerudo did it only to be at peace, for they hate every race. Anyway, Death Mountain was for the Gorons, the Kokiiri had the forest (but they didn't participate in the war, so they didn't even earn it), the Hylians got the Market Place, Shiekahs got Kakariko--"

"Aren't Hylians there too?"

"Yes, Impa-san opened it up to the public some time ago, or that's what she told me. Urm, the Zoras got the lake, domain, and the lake. It is open to everyone except the Gerudos, for they were mortal enemies. I wouldn't worry about us running into any of those." Chuckling, her eyes widened a bit, pointing behind her.

Spinning around, slapping Navi on his shoulder, his hand was on the hilt of the sword when he saw it. Just another one of those Tektites from Death Mountain, except this ones armour was blue. Must be tougher, Eh? Smirking, he leapt forward aiming for the red eye, a trick learned from the infamous Gohma. With a slash of the quick blade, Link had the thing into two halves, no screeches able to explain the pain from the sword of Farore. More were staring to appear of the horizon, so Link charged them head-on.
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It was more of a quick battle than a war; Link was the head one pursuit, while three of the Tektites went in three different directions to confuse him. That didn't work, Navi knew it wouldn't. For when they went out towards the closing, and pursued in for the so-called 'kill' Link had his blade held out to the left with concentration pressed upon it. A white chi appeared around his body, spreading out until it only surrounded the blade, there is shined a bright, then turned a dark crimson. Keeping his eyes locked to the ground, he let out a yell.

"Rhiu-Kiyto!" If the call hadn't been initiated then nothing else would have happened, except the chi may have gone down, but that wasn't this case. What happened was when he let go of pressing to the left; he completed a three hundred and sixty-degree spin at ground level. This was right about the time that the Tektites started to close in for their assault. Screeches were the only things that sounded as one after another, they watched themselves slit into three pieces. Yes, his sword did slice through, but before it stopped, it would do a backslash for the effect.

Grabbing his sword, slamming it into the sheath, nine pieces of Tektite appeared around the circle around him. Crossing his arms across his chest, the boy looked over at the startled Navi. Maybe it was a bit surprising, but the boy had been trying to perfect his technique ever since they left Death Mountain with it. He only did it when the night was high, so Navi was asleep, but this really was his first time using the technique in full battle. Grinning a little, his arms went up to the back of his head, stretching a bit. "You surprised?" She now hovered over his head.

"Yes, I am. How did you get so good?"

"Maybe the heart pieces, but I have been practicing my techniques for the past few nights, not since we've been in the Zora territory. Before that, like when we were heading down the river."

"When have you been practicing?" For she also had been practicing, if they were going to train, they should do it together, not apart. Although those words that Impa spoke still rang in her ears. What if she needed to protect him one day, and could only combat separately? So, that was that, she decided to not mention her part on training, they might need to do some togetherness, though.

"Usually around midnight, for a few hours. I move away so the noise doesn't wake you--you mad?"

"Not at all. I think we all need a little training, urm, could we just go in the morning to that house. I am pretty sure it isn't an inn."

"What is it, then, Navi?" Glancing over at the wooden cabin, he was almost sure it was a cabin, but Navi had been the one to search. She had probably looked in the window and mistaken it for something else. Whatever the case, Link found another large bushel to rest in, so he piled in it, slipping his materials off, letting her lay in the grass with him. Keeping on his side, they could see each other now, as the lunar lights flared overhead.

"It's a fishing arena. It's run by some Hyrulian."

"What's the difference in them again?"

"Hylians have long ears like the Kokiiri and have psychic powers, like Zelda-sama's dream. Hyrulians are normal humans, they have round ears." Giggling, she covered herself in a bit of grass, keeping attention focused at him.

"I see. A fishing area? Can we check that out, I've never been fishing? I mean, there are none in the Kokiiri forest, maybe it's sort of fun? What's inside their, part of the lake?"

"Nope, it is a man-made lake. There is a counter where you rent rods and reels, then there is a small lake with some logs, rocks, weeds, and fish in them. Huge fish too, I even read that you get a prize for catching a huge one, something about the heart of the fish."

"Another piece of heart? I am sure we will need those in our quest, they have helped me master that technique." Yanking out his satchel, the scrounged around for some food, some of the fish cooked fish was in

here from today, but not any good for a meal. Throwing the bag that it was in out to the side, Link closed his satchel, his stomach growling a bit.

"Hee, you hungry?"

"Yes, ma'am. We should have come back for supper when they called us." Now closer to the house, he could peer it on its tiny ledge, frowning a bit. If they had swum the two miles, they would have been let down, for there were no lights shining through the windows. Stretching his legs a little, he watched Navi wonder through the satchel and come out with the jar from the fairie. Popping open the top, the fairie poured out of the jar and surrounded him. Giggling, his fatigue was automatically gone, Navi's also disappearing, but the fairie left with the fatigue.

"Awe, she left."

"Only one use. You full now?"

"Yea, how long does this last?"

"Probably until lunch tomorrow, so let us rest now." Navi stared down at him, watching him contently with that smile broadening her face, yes, she was going to wait for him to fall asleep, just as she usually did the nights beforehand. It was always him going to sleep first, her admiring him, and then her finally falling down into the darkness. The mornings followed with her up first, then him, so she can admire him for the morning.

"Goodnight.Navi." Those hues rested themselves downward, while his head with the cap sunk down into the grass. Navi meanwhile just glanced upon him, watching him rest himself for the night before. Where would they go, maybe to the fishing arena to gain the piece of heart, but something else was going to happen. Maybe they would head over to Gerudo Valley for the day. If only she could find Gaebora right now, she had seen him perching upon the stones, but that had been so long ago.

Pushing off away from her little one, Navi flew past the mountains to check out for monsters. No fiends were in the area, so she was safe to travel away from Link for the time being. Catching the owl's scent, she headed over to the two little islands, searching for the feathered one. At the gravestone with the arrow inscription and the three, she found nothing at all, but when she flew over towards the nearest isle of the land, the owl was rested on there. Growling, the fairie headed towards the owl, watching it perch upon gravestone and gaze at her coming.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo! What brings you down here, young one?"

"I need a favor." Lowering her eyes, she stared down at the tombstone, reading the insignia of here lie the Zoras of the past, just some memorial. Knocking here attention away from the animal, he had to slap her with his wing to get the young ones attention. Flashing up with anger, she stared up the animal.

"Calm down, young one, what is your favor?"

"We need a ride to Gerudo Valley tomorrow, do you mind?"

"Not at all, but is that really your problem."

"Shut up!" Sparkling up, she fluttered away, watching the owl turn its head upside down, giving out a squawky laughter. When it did that, the thing reminded Navi of those quails, but nevertheless, she heard his voice drowning out her own little screams of frustration. The words that made her want to rip out her own hair, telling the whole word to screw themselves and those words were this: don't fall in love. Why did they all care!

Her own tears were starched across her face when she returned to him ten minutes later, some time was needed to get herself aquatinted with realty, some was needed to let it out, but most of it was to tell the others to let themselves worry about their own problems. Who cared what Gaebora thought! Who cared what the Deku Tree thought Farore rest his soul, but who cared? This wasn't supposed to be a mission that would take almost two months, this was a supposed to be a day mission. The rules had changed, and love was in the air, nothing could stop them.

Unless he doesn't return it. "She" taunted out.

Shut up! Shut up, I say!

He won't return it! He won't return it!

Shut up! Yes, he will! Her mind screamed towards the voice, something had exorcised her out.

That proves it, prove it to me.

Grabbing his face, she pulled him into a kiss, nuzzling her face into his. Growling at the voice, as if snapping at it, the fairie nuzzled her into him, holding him with herself, letting the tears drop down from her body. It was so weird, what if she didn't return his love? No! This isn't the time, it is almost over, and we are almost done. One more jewel, we are almost there, and then we can leave and retain ours lives in the forest with the Kokiiri. Of course she knew the Kokiiri had abandoned them, they would most likely become travelers around this world, but this wasn't the time. Forgetting the voice, she nestled into him, falling asleep.

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Morning brought a few surprises. Link was up before her, and while up he discovered a few things about the island that she hadn't gone over the day before. Wondering over to the observatory, Navi inside of his hat, the boy had found one of those potted plants like from the Zora's domain. Laying a magic bean on there, a small root grew up as the other one had been formed. Inside the place, he found no one, but a locked door. A sign on the outside said that the scientist was hard at work, so Link left them is whoever this scientist was.

At the garden, he found a few vegetables to munch on; the fairie hadn't been used to her full power, so he was pretty hungry. Link could ponder on the other fairie, but that one might be needed for going inside Jabu Jabu. If his assumptions were right, then Jabu Jabu was really possessed (like the Deku Tree), and may have had evil spirits inside of him. On his dig through the garden, Link just came across two scarecrows; they actually frightened him, for he had never seen crows before, or scarecrows. The weirder thing was that one of them talked to him!

"Well, howdy there, and who might you be?" The topmost scarecrow spoke out loud.

Spinning around, his hand on the sheath of his sword, the boy examined the scarecrow, figuring he was nice, and smiled a little shrugging a shoulder. Leaning across the iron fence that separated the scarecrows, Link stared up at him with eyes wide.

"I can see from your expression that you thought I was inanimate, yea. I get that a lot. My name is Pierre, and I am a scarecrow who adores music. Any type of music is good enough for me." Stopping for a second, the scarecrow sniffed something with a nose that wasn't there. His straw stiffened. "Mm, I smell an instrument, you wouldn't happen to have one on you, would you?"

"Yes sir, I do." Pulling out the ocarina, the scarecrow went ecstatic. He leapt upon the pole he was positioned one, holding his hands into air in a jovial manner.

"My, my! Would you happen to play a tune for me? I am have an excellent memory and would remember any tune you gave me. Come on, don't be shy, and I want one you made up, nothing authentic. If it has ever been played, I will know it, my ears do not deceive me."

Well, playing a tune from his collection was out of the collection, so he reversed the notes on Saria's tune, claiming it as his own. It was technically his own, you know. The scarecrow jumped for joy when he gave it to him, telling him to come back in a few years and visit him, only then would the song become useful. After being unanimated once again, Link wondered away from the garden with an expression of confusion on his face, yet he did write down the tune in his sheet as the Scarecrow's Song.

The fishing arena was the only other place to spend the day, so the at nine o'clock that morning, he spread out his arms and dove into Lake Hylia. Those weird creatures from before were back, the Octaroks, or whatever they were called. Link could only dive under when they came near, for if he took out his sword, he feared that it might get lost it in the one hundred feet deep water. That was right, near the entrance it was shallow, but now the scene just scared the boy to death, as if the octopuses made it any better! For an hour and half he swam at full speed, reaching the small island at about ten thirty that morning. Fully energized from the vegetables, he had no trouble scanning the small hill that led up to the tiny house at the top. In a matter of fifteen minutes, his hands latched open the wooden door, pushing inside.

--------------------

Discoveries were one in the same at some places, so when the boy wandered past the doors of the cabin and into the man-made lake, all saw was all the glory of it. Navi had been right, there was some sort of man-made lake sculpted out of the ground. Infront of him was a path that led to some sandy ground, then inside the circle of that was a small pond extending twenty feet across and thirty feet wide. He didn't even notice the voice, until something hooked him on the back, making him scream with surprise.

Whirled back into the air, the boy levitated for a few seconds, before he uncovered his eyes cowardly. Before him, a man with a hat was chuckling away, holding a fishing pole into his hands. Putting two and two together, the boy spotted the line sinking down towards his clothes, and the bobble hooked under his shirt. Growling, the boy threw himself off the hook, tearing a huge cut in the shirt, but landed on his bottom with an abrupt sound.

Shaking those tresses aside, his long cap having come unraveled from the scene before, the boy scooped up the headgear (his slumbering fairie, also), putting them back into position. Taking a good look at the man, he saw he was about middle aged, tan skin, and some weird shirt with different blue and red patterns sketched upon it. Link couldn't view any pants on the man, because he was sitting at a desk with a register to hold money, and fishing poles held on the back wall. On the desk were a few odds and ends, paperweights, and extra rubies. Attracting the most attention was a huge tank of water that was empty to the core. Taking a few steps forward, the boy put his hands on the counter, staring up at the Hyrulian (yea, he had small ears!), with a hat that was perked through with hooks.

--------------------
It was a fisherman's hat, or so the man would have said. Taking one quick look at the boy was enough to make him burst out laughing. How did a kid ever get out this far to Lake Hylia and swim the few miles to the cabin? Only the most strongly of men could earn their way out here to the lake, sometimes resting for days when the reached the cabin, but this kid looked as if he had just woken up. By Goddess, he still had sleep in his eyes, was he that fast! Grinning a little, he stared down at the boy, tipping the hat towards him. "What can I do for you, son? You lost or something?" Of course the lad wasn't.

"Oh, well." Seemed sort of nervous, he did. "I want to go fishing, may I have a pole?"

"Fishing? Well, you seemed to come out a long way, so I guess I can give you a deal. This is an adult's fishing hole, yet there aren't many around, so I'll cut you some slack. But I am warning you." Pulling out his finger, the man taunted the boy in the face. "The fish out here are not friendly. Sure there are some that could be around a pound or so, but some of them get as much as twenty-two pounds. If that happens, break the line, son."

"Break the line?"

Oh that was it! He couldn't help himself! Grabbing the edge of the counter, the man guffawed into the sides of his mouth, holding back the laughs as much as possible. No avail was given because for three minutes the boy sat there steamed the man laughing, and a sparkle coming lazily out of the kid's lap. Not even bothering with questions, he handed him his smallest rod, hooked with a lime green bait.

"It's twenty rubies, kid."

Pouring out twenty from his adult wallet bag, the boy stared up at him, the pole over his shoulder like a long sword. "I am ready to fish, any final thoughts?"

"Just don't--- just don't-- just don't--oh Goddess!" The man was still laughing when the boy hit him with the side of the rod, running off out into the lake. Rubbing his head gently, the middle-aged man shook his head one last time, giving them a farewell glance. It seemed like a short distance, but the end of the lake he was at. It had to be a mile out, too far for the man to see. You see, the lake may have been small, but the land was vast and rich all around that area, harboring some sea crabs, other crustaceans, and plants of all sorts. The crabs and all were indoors for the season, so he didn't warn the boy about them.

Eventful dreams soon took over his mind; this was his own business, so he didn't have to worry about anyone taking him for granted. All the Hyrulian got for his troubles were some fish from the Zora, traded with the fish- people and the solitary time by him. It was pure bliss to be out here, the erected tops hanging off themselves, shining the artificial light from the sunroof out into the real scenery, all the woods and reefs for the best fishing, and the dream that one day someone might catch ole' Mody. Yes, ole' Mody was the one he was after, a twenty-five pounder he had meant to keep for himself, spending thousands hours rooting after, but he never came close to bagging him.

Tuckering himself off, the boy watched the child from the distance, only a speck of a real manufacture. The kid caught quite a few fish, more than the man had predicted, but nothing over five pounds. That was chump change, according to the fisherman, nothing over seven was anything special, and nothing under nine could go in his hall of fame (the tank.) Not many people came out here to fish, so he really didn't have anything to put in there, plus the last one had died in a misfortunate night he had been hungry. Lazily resting his head down, he drifted off to sleep at one o'clock that afternoon.

--------------------

"What was that all about?" When Link reached the area as far away from the man as possible, his guardian was fully awake, letting out a cute little yawn. Looking over towards her little one, a small question pondered her inner brain. Why was Link up before him, how was he at the fisherman's house, what exactly had happened last night? Yes, the stuff from last night was blurry (not the part with Gaebora, but when she had returned to Link and the thoughts that passed therein.) Hardly recalling much of anything, the fairie lounged off his hat when the question popped.

Trying to figure the rod out, Link sat upon a rock on the beach-covered surface, studying the oak-made rod. He knew little about fishing, they fished out in the Kokiiri forest (a stream led down there), but he had never been out there. Saria's world was the outdoors, but she detested killing little fish for food, when they had all of these berries and natural supplies to benefit them. Reason is, when he first tasted meat on the outside world it was quite a surprise to him, just on how much he had been missing from the isolated forest. Grabbing the rod by the head, he launched it out into the open.

"Huh? Oh, him. I think he was laughing because I am so small.stupid man."

"Oh, Linky, don't mind him. He is a simple man who thinks you are just another immature Hylian kit, but in reality, you are a fully mature Kokiiri."

"Navi.I am not a mature Kokiiri, I am an immature Kokiiri, I am only a decade old." Letting out a giggle, he held the large pole under his armpit, pressing her flimsy body into his face.

"Mm, you act better than the others, anyway." Letting herself be nuzzled, the girl went back and did the same thing to her as he was doing to her. Not in so many motions, since she was smaller, of course.

Cuddling with her a few seconds, the boy slapped her on his pole as the line began to tug. Grasping, the boy yanked back with all his strength, the small flying through the air. Grasping the line quickly, he examined the fish with the disappointment forming in his face. The fish wasn't a fish at all; it had to have been a fish stick! Only under three pounds, the boy grasped the fish and chunked it back into the fresh underwater.

"What happened, why did you throw it back?"

"Did you see the size of that fish?"

"Looked pretty big to me, maybe it could have won." Two pounds was actually a lot for Navi, so she really couldn't tell if the ten-pounders were in there or not. Floating towards the fish, Navi peered at the fish with her eyes glaring a bit. Taking a glance over at the man, he was watching them with drooping eyes of an old pervert. Automatically her veil reappeared, going back over towards Link, she perched upon his shoulder once more.

"No, ten-pounders win the heart, I am pretty sure."

"Well, let's get to work!"

--------------------

Moving to the center of the pond was Link's idea of the day. At the beginning of the lake was a reef that extended out to the center of the lake, or almost to the center. After measuring the reef for its weight several times, the boy stood upon the reef and began to fish for his luck. The following three hours had been spent catching five pounders at the most, but the first scaly animal he caught was a seven-pound fish! Grasping with excitement, the boy began to fish out for the following three hours, keeping himself out of the trouble from falling in the water.

Ten pounders didn't start appearing until he caught himself an eight-pound fish, instead of throwing it away; the kid used it as bait for the other fish. It was only common in the food chain that bigger animal ate the smaller animals, not plastic little reefs he got for renting a stupid pole. The first time he used and eight-pound fish, he received an eight and a half pound fish. Using that one, he came across the nine pound one, and following the process over, he came upon the ten pounds.

Some amounts of mass seemed easier on the first impression. Ten pounds may have been easy to lift, but it wasn't easy to pull. Especially when the dreaded little 'moby dick' had its head wrapped around the line and pulled back as strong as any of the monsters he had faced. Ever since Link had come out to the reef he had been using the little string attached to the coil that you turned to yank it in. Throwing himself back in the air would land him a quick ease in the deep water, losing any fish he came into contact with. The funny thing was that when he was after the other fish, he had no need to yank the fish in that other manner, except with when multiplied by five.

Jumping upon the edges of the reef, he kept his feet apart and the rode buried between those hands that hung on for dear life, trying to keep those other stupid fish from biting at the line. Navi took the position without warning, throwing her weight against the smaller fish, scaring her off, but the real problem was getting that traumatic thing to calm down. Flaring her aura, the kind she used to blind enemies, she zapped the fish in the eyes, making a squeal erupt from the cry out. Blood splattered all over the water, just from the hook, not from the zapping or anything like that.

Chance was all in it, for when Navi blinded the fish, it gave up in the fight for survival. Pulling back all the way, he made the yank, throwing himself into the water, but held onto the pole as if he was on a cliff and the edges were the only escape. Leaping into the air, a reef to propel him upward, the boy caught the fish in the air. When he landed, halfway in the water, halfway on the coral structure, his hands still held the fish down. Surprise threw him off the coral, making him grip the fish (and the fishing pole, which he picked up before leaving), tracking back the mile in only a few minutes.

The distance didn't seem like anything, only staying on the move, so that they reached the area in under a minute. Staring up at the fisherman with disappointing eyes, the boy let out a smug growl and slammed his fist upon the wood. Nothing, nothing at all. Giving Navi a disgusted look for the man, he reached forward and put the fish before the man's lips, nada, nothing at all. Well, he had one last idea, but it was sort of a dozy Running back a few feet, the boy cupped his hands together letting out an excruciating long screech of excitement towards his direction. Sound waves picked up, and the man jutted awake with profuse intrusion.

--------------------

Jutting awake from the screaming of a young child, the fisherman stared forward to see the child from before. Obviously he was turning in his pole, having given up? No, that wasn't the reason at all, in his hands he held a fish consisting of what seemed more than nine pounds. Gripping the fish quickly, he slammed it upon the weight, surprised to see it far exceeded ten pounds, it went past the area of fifteen miles. How could a young child get something this heavy, how could he catch it? Not even bothering with details, the man fed the fish something from a blue bottle, putting it inside the water, where the hatch closed making the glass turn black.

"How did you c-catch something that big?"

"Used some of the smaller fish for bait, I guess. How much is it?"

"F-fifteen pounds. I can't believe you caught something that huge, that is just unbelievable." Shaking his head, the boy handed him the pole back, which he hung up generously (not even a smirk forming his lips, contradictory of this morning.) Leaning forward, the man patted the boy upon his head, searching through his bag and pulling out a fourth of a heart. He didn't know what exactly the thing was, but from the excitement in his face, it had to be something special. "You certainly earned it, whatever it is. I found it while cleaning out the pool last week and decided to postpone it as a reward, what exactly is it?"

"Well, if you earn four of these in a row, then you grow stronger and stronger." Pulling out the fourth of a piece, he connected the two together, forming a whole half. Showing the pieces off to the amazed man, the boy said his thanks and disappeared out of the door. There was something weird about that boy; he wasn't ordinary, which was for sure. Something told him that one day he would see that child again, a much older man, and he would do great things. Maybe it was his allergies acting up, but something was abyss.

Ignoring the thoughts of tonight, the man opened up the tank and checked upon his new prize. There it was fifteen pounds of fish for all the people who visited his new business to notice and ponder who caught it? His story would come out how a boy dressed in green, guarded by a sparkle of bright blue, braved the odds and captured the fish. Unfortunately, he did not have the boy's name, but he knew of a legend of the green clothed children, those from the ancient tribe. In the following morning a plaque would be placed right above the tank that said "the Kokiiri tribe wander." For now, the man would slip back to sleep at three in the afternoon. The life of a fisherman was patience that was the number one rule: patience.

--------------------

Shutting the door quietly, Link cupped his hands together, holding the half of a heart pressed completely together. Throwing the heart into the air, the boy pressed his index and middle finger up together, performing the peace sign. Meanwhile, Navi caught the heart piece launching it down inside of the satchel, snapping it shut. Giggling at the child, she pushed him down off the edge of the island and into the water. When his head emerged from the cerulean pool, the girl fluttered near his face.

"Why'd you do that?!" Shaking those blonde tendrils back and forth, the kid stared up at the fairie.

"Hee!" Landing up on his cheeks, she rubbed them a little bit, glancing down at him. "Come on, little one, let's head back and maybe we'll make it by the end of the afternoon."

"Then we head back to the domain and deliver that letter?" Putting his feet against the edge of the island, he pressed off into the water, quickly breast stroking the entire way, on the fifteen-minute way they spoke at what the next destination was. Navi's idea was not to head back to the domain, at least until later tonight, but to take the advice of Gaebora. Yes, she still remembers the encounter with Gaebora Kaepora, that was clear in her mind, and the favor was still fresh in her young mind.

"No, we don't. I say we head to Gerudo Valley."

"But, I thought you didn't want to waste anymore time? Isn't the Gerudo home over two days away?"

"Yes, but we will be there in two hours." Grinning, her veil flashed off for the time being, then she explained her situation. Well, I shouldn't say she explained it all, there was a bit of fibbing in the story, but then again, what would it hurt? Navi explained that on her way back from the bathroom last night that she stumbled upon the infamous (or at least she thought so) Gaebora. Reminding him what Gaebora was (although he needed no remembrance); the girl went on to speak that the owl had suggested they take a trip to the thieves' valley for a few surprises.

"The owl mentioned something about some rewards at the valley."

"Rewards, like those heart pieces?"

"Maybe, maybe not." It was a fact that Navi knew that there were two pieces stored in the valley, it was just there wasn't really the location she knew. And another factor that stood was they wouldn't be able to get across the Gerudo, so those things needed to be near the area before they reached the guards gates. Hrm, that would be a problem, but if they couldn't get past them, they just couldn't. The Gerudo women were trained to fight from the day they could walk, they would easily dispatch the boy.

A fourth of an hour displayed later before he was sitting upon the grass and drying his clothes out in the afternoon sun. Nothing much else happened for the remainder of the hour, both of them taking a forty-five minute nap, awakening at ten after four. Waking himself up with the automatic alarm clock, the boy and his fairie were surprised to see the wise owl perching upon the gate, where they slept, staring at him with eyes closed. As soon as Link made the first attempt to move, though, the owl stared down at him with those yellow glaring eyes, brown feathers stretching out.

"Hoot, Hoot! Well, good afternoon, young hero. I presume your accomplice has told you about our travel plans?"

"Accomplice?" He giggled a little, nodding his head somewhat. "Yea, she told us we were going over to the Gerudo Valley, but-- you never said how we are going to get there."

"Fly, you dummy!" The 'accomplice' spoke up, shaking her head a little. "Forgive him today, Gaebora, he got too much water in his brai-" Being thrown across the ground, the girl was tackled by the Kokiiri, who began to tickle her all over. Bursting out into a fresh stream of giggles, the girl tried to tickle back, but to no avail. That forest child was just too strong at sometimes, playfully repeating over and over that he wasn't the dummy--she was. Kaepora just watched to two with a chuckling look upon his animal features.

Separating the two apart, the owl shrugged a small feathery shoulder. He tried to separate the two with the slip of his wings, but that didn't really work, for Link threw himself over to another patch of overgrown grass, continuing the tickle torture upon her. What was so strange to the owl was how gentle the boy was with her, being how fierce he could get, how could one be so gentle with a fairie only the size of his middle finger?

Finally deciding to separate the two beings, he pushed his wings between the two. That didn't help, for Link crawled over the wings in an instant, Navi flying in-between the wings, also. Throwing her head back in a squawk, his claw grabbed Link by the shirt collar, clasping the fairie with both wings pushing together. Struggling with the two for a few minutes, the kid's energy finally pushed down, slumping down somewhat, as Kaepora put Navi in Link's hat.

"Hang on, you two."

"You are gonna fly us, Kaepora-san?"

"But of course, little hero." Throwing his wingspan out, the flyer lifted up one hundred feet into the air, staring forward at over the horizon. There wasn't that long left until they would reach Gerudo Valley from this destination, so taking off towards the eastern horizon, Gaebora would stop until they reached the area of the thieves. Looking down at the boy, he had already fallen asleep from the air travel within the first few minutes, his ears popping the higher and higher they rose. He was very careful not to go up too high in the sky, fearing the atmospheric conditions would make him short of breath.

From the lake he would head east, along side the huge range of Death Mountain. Spiraling forward for the next hour and a half, nothing else was in order unless he ran into the occasional Peahat (which he evaded easily.) Since it wasn't nice there were no problem of the Stalchildren, but then again, they could never reach this high up, could they? An hour later went by with no activity; the mountains remained the same until they carved down into a valley. Past the structure of the valley was places were the grass grew no more.

Streaking off the grassy plains was a rooftop that extended out, guarded by a gate, but below that was the bare plains full of dirt and rock. Nothing was around this area except the occasional rocks, even the Peahats weren't in this area, and it seemed the Gerudo had the unstable environment of them all. No grass, no water, although the river was up ahead, but it seemed that it didn't rain out here and all. Gaebora hadn't been out here in a while (the first hundreds of years ago), but back then again in the past it had been beautiful as the center of Hyrule Field.

Pulling away from the breeze, the owl flapped down into the valley, pushing down into the valley that narrowed its length to just fifteen feet across. Maneuvering through the place in fifteen minutes, the owl came up to an area with a long rock bridge that led into the beginning of the Gerudo inner valley, a small little waterfall was at his right (but not the one that led to Hylia.) Flapping up a few more feet, landing just after the stone flab of rock, he pulled the two down on the ground, shaking them with their wings. Not even waiting for them to awaken, the owl flew up into the air and took off away from the valley, it gave him some bad vibes, but Navi wanted to come here for some reason.

--------------------

The trip was a blur to Link, it seemed like the owl had some sort of sleeping power in his talons, for he was asleep from the time he took off, until the time he heard the animal give out a screech of farewell. Sitting up, he covered his face with those hands, staring over at the land, surprised with not so much as envy. The entire place was barren; all he saw from all around were barren plains that stretched forward. Looking up, he noticed that it was just a hill, so when he climbed to the top, his discovery was a more barren land, but also a nice-looking rope bridge. It seemed this had been built for good use, the thing was ten feet wide and fifty feet across.

Carved from stone, the beginning of the bridge seemed to be. Above the bridge were two pillars that stood five feet in the air, that was what the ends of the bridge were connected to. On the other side was another pair of pillars with the opposite end of bridge connected to them. Walking ahead, the boy stepped on the footbridge as Navi began to flutter from out of his hat, staring around at him, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Giggling, he kept his hands on the rope that was used as the handrails.

"Mm, where did owl go?" Peeking ahead, there was a shadow up ahead, but it didn't seem threatening, at least from right now. What really was frightening was when he looked down at the ground. There was some way down; it reached down into the Gerudo River that would connect to Lake Hylia. No, that wasn't the scariest part of this adventure, it was the drop down that frightened him past all beyond belief. Wide-eyed, the child glanced down at the ground, feeling his legs begin to wobble a little.

"L-Link, calm down! Heights, you must be afraid of heights! Calm down, little guy, the bridge is wide, you won't fall. Stable yourself!"

Sinking down upon his knees, the boy's vision began to sink back and forward. Gaping forward, the boy grabbed the Rope Bridge, slamming into the bridge and slinging back and forth. Falling upon his back, he curled up a little bit.rocking back and forth upon the bridge, making it not seem so stable. This would have gone on for the entire time, unless Navi hadn't lifted him up and carried him the whole way, until she stopped and dropped him down on his stomach. Her eyes had jolted out in an expression of pure fear, there was no un-mistaking it, it was as if Ganondorf himself had appeared before them.

Crying out in slight pain, the boy looked up at what had scared her so bad, for when he looked at her she was shaking a little and pointing forward. Ganondorf it was not, but there was a beautiful woman just less than six feet with her arms crossed over her chest. A small scarf wrapped around her mouth, so he couldn't view her expression, but the rest of her body gave off a nice sensual glow. Her invisible aura shot off a beautiful feeling, but also a deadly feeling, because the girl was stretched inside what looking like Gypsy clothing. Gypsy clothing was strung about her body, her halter top made of silk, showing off her flat, tanned stomach, and matching violet silk pants upon her slim form. The traditional Arabian shoes lay on her feet, also. Sheathed at her side was a sword, but not like his, it was small at the bottom and curved up into a beautiful wide blade made of stainless steel (bigger than his, that was for sure.)

No armour strung across her form, but that silky red hair, which was tied up into a ponytail, glanced down as she stared down at him with cat-like yellow eyes. Her nose stuck out against the purple cover, but from the imprint, Link could make out that a grin was positioned upon her face. Bending down on her knees, the woman leaned against an Iron Gate that had to have sealed the Gerudo palace form the rest of the world. Without even asking, Link knew it was a Gerudo, and taking a few steps back, his fear of the fall dissipated.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her arms uncrossed heading for the sword, but before she could get the thing out of its sheath, Navi slammed into it and watched as it bounced off the ground and flew down into the river.

"Why you--what the hell was that!" Flailing at the dot, it easily evaded her feeble attacks with her hands. From the looks of it, the Gerudo fought like girls, but were mastered in the blade. That was a bad disadvantage for them, but a good one for Link. Flipping backward, his sword was pushed out and ready to fight (his first human opponent), it seemed this would be his first human kill. Readying himself, the child charged up at the woman, aiming for her throat and ready for the kill.

"P-please wait!" Throwing herself upon her knees, the girl burst into tears, crying softly into her hands. Link blinked a little, looking down at her, to Navi, and then back to the girl. Staring down at the sharpened blade.the boy slipped it inside of the sheath and slumped down on his knees right next to her. Grabbing her shoulders, he smiled a little and spoke sweetly.

"Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you."

"P-promise?"

"Of course." Grinning, he shrugged a shoulder and stood up ready to speak to her, but that was when he was overtaken by a slam to the gut. Gasping, his hands fell upon his stomach, staring up at the grinning woman, eyes widened with pain. She gripped him by the collar, spitting into his face, and reached for his blade. Shaking her head, the woman walked over to the side of the bridge, dangling him over.

"I hate men.I hate boys, and I hate you." Spitting into his face, she dropped him off the edge of the bridge.

--------------------

This was it, this was the end. His own stupidity would be his demise, he knew from the start he should of killed her, but she just looked so sweet! He couldn't help, but feel sorry for the beautiful woman who was crying on her knees. Must be one of the attacks against the men, Eh? Seduction was a good term for it, and if he survived (of course I won't), he wouldn't fall for it again. Shaking his head, the boy cried silently as the hundreds of feet sank down from miles to miles, doing the only thing he could, which was hide his shield above him and hope it broke the impact.

Nothing would break the destruction he imagined, nothing could save him, even if Navi would get a hold of him, there was no way she could stop him and float him down the feet this valley reached. Below was a river, but the impact was going to kill him! Another alternative was that it may have been like the water in the Zorian Domain and was soft, although he knew the answer to that, since this was the same water he had spent thirteen hours scrounging in. Great, no one would ever find Ruto; she would just turn into stomach acid after a while, what a wonderful way to die!

He could feel to fluttering of Navi, trying to scream her name for help, but his voice was drowned out by the fall. How long had he been in the air, five, ten hours? He couldn't tell, but he believed it had only been a few seconds, was his life flashing before his eyes? Images of everything that had happened were weighing upon his soldiers, he was be a traitor to the Kokiiri, brother to Goron, loser to Zoras, disappointing Zelda, Ganondorf would rule the world, and Saria would have been disappointed he hadn't come to visit. Hands stretched out and grasped Navi, holding him close to her, he tried to hold it in, but the tears began to splash down his cheeks and into the air (he was falling face-first, so they streamed upward.)

Feeling and watching Navi, he saw she was crying and trying her best to help him survive. She would survive, of course, he hoped that her next master would be better than the other would. Pulling her close to him as much as she could, he whispered into her ear to find a better master next time. That made him receive a hard slap across the face, and her beginning to choke over her sobs, Goddess! He made her cry that was a heavier weight on his heart than anything else did. Holding him close, she mouthed something to him that he couldn't understand, it started with an 'L' that's all he caught.

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This wasn't happening! It couldn't happen this was insane! Goddess, she should have told him to cut the wenches' throat when she had thrown the sword aside, but her honesty rule of not killing something unarmed had kicked in. Vowing never to use that damned thing again, the girl had been quite surprised when she heard the boy yell and saw that nothing was where he had been two seconds ago. Viewing downward, she saw that the girl had knocked him off, spit on him, and said some awful words towards the kid. Flying up at the Gerudo's face, she brightened herself and shot a chi ball right into her forehead. There was a yowl and cursing in the ole' Gerudo language when Navi had thrown herself, spiraling a downward speed to Link.

She reached him a few seconds later, seeing he was trying the trick in the Deku Tree, but this time it wouldn't work, that valley had to be at least five hundred feet deep. He was already halfway there when she reached him and started to cuddle up with him, for she knew she couldn't stop the impact of the fall, it would kill both of them. Here's what would happen: the impact of stopping him would kill her and then he would drop the rest of the way and die. Was it better to live on her own, for she knew she couldn't live on her own? The little fairie had always been alone, but now here she was with Link and he was going to die! No, no, she wouldn't allow him to die, she wouldn't allow it. Cuddling up with him, she began to think as the seconds ticked away.

No, nothing would stop them now; nothing would stop this process, for they were doomed. All the possible choices flowed through her mind; they could land and die. They also could do some more sensible manners and try to find someway to float down, but how? Nothing in his satchel was a parachute, the satchel! Maybe they could use that as a parachute? No, it wasn't big enough; there was nothing else in here that would help them, unless it was the shield, which was the only way to do it. All that ran through Navi's mind was if the Goddesses' wanted their tasks accomplished they would have to thrown out an ole' miracle at the two.

During her thinking process he brought up the part of maybe getting a nicer master. A nicer master! How dare he, she couldn't help but slam her fist into his cheek, and cry out in curse words, cursing him for saying such words. How could he say something like that! How could he be so cruel? Beating upon his chest, the girl was surprise when he pulled her towards him and kissed her cheeks sweetly. Pushing against him, the girl yelled out at the top of her lungs "LINK! I LOVE YOU!' her voice being drowned out by the air of the wind. Cursing herself, she was about to give up when she heard the squawk.

A squawk? A cucco? Her mind rattled on for the questions to the answers, and turning sideways, she saw that to her left was a Cucco. How it got here was a mystery in itself, but a miracle was all that could explain it. Grabbing hold of the Cucco, she threw it at the weeping boy, he fumbled with it for a few seconds, but caught it around the waist. All of a sudden his impact was slowed down, as the chicken began to flap around for some pressure. The pressure stopped slowly, easing down as the falling stopped all at once. There he was, floating down to the rocks, and what was better was that there were two spaces that he could land where there were places to rest!

"Link, we did it! We're saved!" Actually, she was never in any danger, but after this experience, he thought of them two as one in the same. Her decision would have been to probably to stop the fall at only a few feet and die, for she knew she couldn't have bared to watch him splat upon the water, or the cliffs nearby. As luck would have it they were floating southward towards the higher cliff that was only twenty feet above the lower one. Coming to a full stop at the edge of the first cliff, he put the Cucco out inside of she searched around for those rewards, this may have been the place that she had mentioned earlier, but that sure wasn't the initial plan of the day.

--------------------

My Goddess, how could a miracle like this happen? Link had presumed himself dead, but out of the blue a Cucco appeared and Navi threw it at him. Relying on past experience, the boy floated down the rest of the way and kept he in one piece when he landed off of a ledge that wasn't quite at the end of the mountain, but a pit stop. Staring around, in utter amazement at the situation, the boy pulled the chicken into his satchel and fell upon the rock ground. Yelling at the top of his lungs, he sighed with satisfaction after the souring of his lungs. Who cared, he was alive! Oh, Goddess how could this happen, did the Gerudo throw a chicken down after them, did she feel sorry for them?

His fairie had gotten up and was already looking around the seven feet long cliff, so he got up and went after her. Curiosity was still pondering his mind on what exactly she said before, he hadn't gotten it out, but it wasn't his name (even though it started with the same letter.) The lip synch was quite different, so moving over to her, the boy sat down right infront of where she was searching and spoke to her. What he didn't notice was that there was a chest right infront of where Navi was perched.

"Navi-chan, what did you say earlier?"

"Say, what do you mean?" Trying to crack the huge lock upon it, she began to perform Ki shots upon it until it finally snapped open.

"When we were falling. You said something that started with an 'L', but it wasn't my name."

"O-oh, that! N-nothing at all, sweetheart I was just saying stuff, I forgot, I was temporary insane." Flushing, she pushed open the chest and came out with a piece of heart, revealing it for the boy. That would wash away his questions, no doubt, because he grabbed the piece and grabbed the half of one, linking them together to form the seventy-five percent of one. Squealing and placing it down inside of his satchel, the boy stared back at her.

"How do we get down?"

"Easy, there is another cliff down there that leads right to the waterfall, you can float down the river until we reach Hylia and then we can head back to the Zoras."

"How long will that take," He scooped her up and placed him on her shoulder, walking over the edge and peering over, grabbing the Cucco, he readied himself to launch off, but waited for Navi to answer his question.

"A few hours, we should be there at nine-thirty. Judging that from the sun it is almost six o'clock, so we should be there at night. I think we should go into Jabu Jabu at night though, something tells me the hear will not be so excellent in the daytime." Pushing him off the ledge, the boy gasped out loud, grabbing onto the Cucco for all his might, and floating down the remaining way of the valley. Shrugging a quick shoulder, the boy actually agreed with her, who knows what sort of stuff was inside this giant fish (or whatever it was), it was best to come at night.

"As long as the king lets us through."

"I think he will when we show him the bottle.he was upset over his daughter's disappearance, Link."

Agreeing silently, he could tell that the king would want them to go get his daughter. He hoped she was as sweet at the king was, he may have been an old fish, but he was one of the nicest people Link had ever met. The King would respect Link for his courage, he thought he was brave for taking one of his own guards down with the sword, and agreed that if they got the stone, then they could keep it. That was best part of it, because he was wearing their symbol, and if he wore their scale, he needed to keep his honor too them. Maybe it was irony, but his Kokiiri tribe symbol was gone, since he was thrown out from the tribe. So, maybe he had to honour himself with the other ones, even though he really wasn't their race, but he was accepted as one of them. It was strange, strange and stupid in a way, yet he would keep his honor towards the Zoras and rescue the princess.

After a few minutes of floating, only six feet from the landing point, the chicken gave out of strength. Maybe he should of let it rest, or maybe he should of checked to see if it was in any bad condition, for when Link looked up the chicken was dead. There was no time to retaliate, all he did was cry out and throw the chicken down into the ground. The chicken smashed into the ground, where a little blood splashed over, but the funny part was when he hit the ground. He landed right onto of the Cucco, which exploded into millions of pieces. Crying out in disgust, the boy jumped up and stared down at the mass of pulp.

That wasn't even a chicken anymore, it was some sort of monster. Bones and entire skeleton had been ruptured into nothing, there were guts and brains scattered all around, surrounded by feathers. Those feathers were covered with red liquid, the blood obviously, and Link couldn't control it. Running over away from the waterfall (this one was about forty feet long), he hit the ground and threw up over the edge of the water. Bile had begun to form in his throat when he heard the cracks of the bones, but seeing it was so different. Watching the puke flow down the river, the boy drowned himself in the fresh water and gulped it down. Rolling away, he grabbed his stomach as the cramp form, crying out in pain. He would have rolled into the cliff, but a large foot stopped him.

"Well, what do we have hear?" A voice, feminine in speaking, rolled out from the tip of a tongue. Moving his head past the foot, he saw another Gerudo, but this one wore no weapon of choice, and was dressed in a silken suit of white that showed no parts, aside her appendages. That, however, didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. Navi was about to pounce with a blinding attack, but something told the boy to stop, so he calmed her down and cupped her inside of hands.

She must have noticed him doing something with his hands, maybe a magic spell, perhaps, so she reached in for a hit to the throat. Pushing himself backward, the boy caught his feet guard, and threw himself backwards a few more feet. Reaching for his sword, the boy stopped and watched the unarmed woman, he had some honor. No, he wouldn't attack the woman without a weapon, but holding the sword steadily in his hands, he backed away from her. Meanwhile the commotion was around, Navi slipped back behind Link and drifted off towards the waterfall.

With a gasp, he realized his fairie had deserted him. Turning around to call out her name, he was greeted with a swift kick to the back, surely would have knocked him out, had it not been for the shield. Luckily, he just pushed him to the ground, which he greeted with pushing his hands back and flipping him upwards. Landing upon his feet, the blade aimed steadily behind her, the boy nodded a quick few steps and watched her. No, she didn't seem to be going a where now, seems she underestimated a warrior, and you were to never do that (even if it was a child.)

A few minutes of yelling for Navi, his front form never leaving the Gerudo's nasty eyes, and keeping her at bay with some of the few rumbles, had really tuckered the boy out. Crying out once more, Navi returned to his side with something concealed behind her back, so he didn't see when she slipped it inside of his pocket and a clinking sound chimed. Immediately he knew what the sound was, that was the sound of a fourth of a container clicking together. That meant that the whole heart was completed, and when that happened, well, we will just see.

Ki-ing a deep blue, the boy sheathed down his sword and ran right at the Gerudo. It seemed these surges not only increased his stamina, speed, and strength, but also gave him the capabilities of something far past his normal extents, when it was charging up. That poor thief tried to throw a punch at him, which he parried by flying back against a wall, and bottle rocketing into her chin with his fist. Not aiming to break, he nicked it, causing her to break down in pain. While the girl was tending to her face, Link hit her in the side of the head with his hilt. Reclaiming the sword into the scabbard, he saw nothing else of interest and did the only normal thing to do: dive in.

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Navi resumed her position at his head while he fought the Gerudo, you see, she had heard the hollow trinkets of the waterfall on their way down, which only had to meant there was some hole carved in there. Taking her natural instincts for granted, she flew behind the waterfall and landed right upon a ladder that led up to the human-carved hole. Certainly not made by erosion, the block concealed a hidden brown chest that hid upon the fourth heart piece they would discover. Fluttering back to the one she protected, she handed him the piece and viewed the battle with astounded ability. The view upon his face made her beam with her own little ambition, yea, the journey out here was not just a waste of time, it was relaxation and collection four extra heart pieces sure helped the boy and her in their quest to defeat Ganondorf. From her guess, Link was nine times as strong as when he arrived, not that he was nine Kokiiri boys put together, more like he was strong as a nineteen-year-old Hylian would was.

Not even bothering to test out her own ability, she guarded the enemy, but gave no tips on how to beat the Gerudo. I mean, it wasn't hard to be an undefended woman, who was deadly nevertheless, but had to be taken care of so not to report down to her comrades. How she got down here and how she got back up was still a mystery to Navi, maybe she was an outsider? If she had been an outsider, she would have greeted them pleasantly, but no, she just had to attack them with the ferociousness. From Navi's guess, she was the Gerudo farmed of some sort, that would explain the huge cow right where she stood, a crate, and a small soaked patch of where seeds would go.

When she went to plant the seeds down inside of the patch, without Link's understanding, she heard a splash and feared the worst. The guard must have jumped in for help! Retracting around, she heard Link call her name out in a boyish laughter, pointing for her to follow him. Clutching the newly tied bag of seeds together, the fairie went after the boy. Yes, she almost caught up with him, before the water seemed to disappear, or was it dip down? A scream erupted, then a splash as Link sailed down a miniature waterfall. He was spluttering when Navi caught up with him, nestling upon his shoulder, chuckling silently.

When he finally returned back to breathing in oxygen, instead of the usual aquatic features, the boy looked over to his fairie and gave her a quiet slap on the face. She cried out loud, staring at him, holding her sore mouth with a bit of hurt in her face. Pulling a finger forward, he stroked the cheek softly, not really patting her so hard, it was just a punishment of payback for not telling him of those 'little' adventures on the rapids. Almost reading his mind, the fairie nodded and slunk down inside of his hat, which was the driest place for all. Storing those seeds with her, so not to fall out since he couldn't reach his side belt in these conditions, the fairie drifted down the sleep as Link dealt with the rapids.

And what a dealing it was! Link spent the next three hours dodging rocks, not that there were many, closing his eyes for the impact of the waterfalls, and drifting along in the loneliness of the world. It really gave him a good chance to think of some things, gave him the chances to study his options when the quest was over. Gotta get the third stone first, dummy. His mind pointed out to him in a matter-of-fact tone. Shrugging sheepishly, the boy dodged one more rock for what seemed the thousandth time.

How was he going to end this, were they going back the Kokiiri Forest to live? Man, why do I think like that, I am already banned from there, I would be living in the Lost Woods for my life. There were other options, he could stay with the Gorons, but those beasts had hugged too much. Ever since Link had been named the 'Dodongo Buster.' (Which they said with so much prides, it was gloating) the child got hugs from every type of Gorons. A Goron hug was not a very nice hug to compensate with in the matter of his already weakened bones.

Maybe stay with the Princess? Not that was a nice thought, he could stay with the Princess (even though he didn't particularly find her as his favorite person, she seemed to know too much), but the chance to train with Impa-sama was a great honour. When it came right down to it, she was his first and only sensei (unless you count the fairies, which he didn't, they just gave him the technique coordinates, anyone could do that.) He would deal with Zelda-sama, it wasn't that he didn't like her, she was pretty and all, it was just that he decided the King wouldn't want a boy a junior to his daughter living in his castle.

If I go ahead and rescue this princess, maybe here? He did enjoy fish a lot, and the fishing arena was a fun place to be. With the new scale he would have no problem staying here, and catching his own food. That was a mistake for staying with the Gorons, they made him food from the Dodongo's, but after those were gone they went back to eating rocks. His pearly whites just couldn't suffer that sort of damage from eating those hard rambles of dirt. Zoras were as good as any place as this, unless the Kokiiri could be reasoned with and understood he didn't do anything to harm them or the Deku Tree.

Maybe the Gerudos? That one gave a short laugh, he hadn't even told the Gerudos what he was and he was already dealing with their antics. Not to mention their king was the enemy of his, maybe if he killed Ganondorf then he would become the King of the Gerudos? Not a fancy title, there would be no one to mess with him, though Link didn't think he was King-material. Most likely, he would be a visitor to the forest and a drifter from town to town, maybe a mercenary of some sort? It was a sad destiny, but at least he would have his companion at his side, he would be with her forever. That was a reassurance that made him consider himself very lucky for her.

Then that other question pondered his mind, the one he had been trying to knock back for all eternity. Why was Navi so different? It is like she had changed over the time they met from the present day today, looking back on the days, he couldn't count how many. Maybe he should have brought a journal to record his history for some tales that would be told hundreds of years from the present day. Link just couldn't understand her behavior, she was different, but not in a bad way, she just seemed to get overzealous of him. The lad didn't understand why women thought he was cute; maybe it was a gift or maybe a curse, and all he understood was Navi.

Communication was different from them, sometimes it was like they could read each other's minds, and known what the other one was thinking. Yet, in this case she had some sort of mind block upon him, and just claimed that she didn't want to lose him to any of those other pretty girls. Did that mean that she thought that he-- nah, she wouldn't think of that, Navi was pretty, but she was just a fairie. They didn't--or did they have feelings like that? Staring up from his nostalgia, he noticed he was not drifting down the Gerudo River anymore, how he was sitting at the base of Lake Hylia with his waist pressed against the edge.

Four hours had actually passed by the time he found the entrance that led back to the Zora's domain, the reason that he had delayed somewhat for the heart pieces, and the fact that later on he discovered himself. When he had found himself lying on the beach, he would later discover that he had been lying on the side of the Lake Hylia for thirty minutes. Another factor was finding the entrance, without the slumbering fairies help, was going to be hard work. Link doubted they would start the dungeon today, he was just too tired to even consider venturing inside the belly of a beast.

Ruto would just have to wait another day that was the answer when Link swam inside of the door to the Zorians, pounded upon it with a message for the King, and was promptly let inside. After making his way from the curious squeals of some Zoras (including the guard, plus the sultry one), the boy was let through to the Zorian King. Now, he would have been down there too in a heartbeat, except the fact that he couldn't move. When Link went up to the platform and yanked out a letter made in the paper of the Zoras, the king was ecstatic.

"W-who is that from, young warrior?" Balling the letter up, Link chunked it up at the King, who caught it with a slick flipper. Even though the Kokiiri and his fairie couldn't decipher the message runic very well, the king was done in three minutes and proudly announced it to Link and Navi (whom had just been pushed from her early slumber by the tiring Link, whose lids needed the rest even more.)

"It says this "Please help me, I am trapped inside of Jabu Jabu's belly. Please hurry, and don't tell my father.' Her signature are there, which looks authentic, but the strange thing is that she can't conduct these sort of runic in her schooling lessons yet. It is either the opposition of Ganondorf, or he wrote the note to tease us, for we might never find it and that is where the princess has gone."

"Was her time to feed Jabu when she disappeared?" Navi blurted sleepily, wiping her eyes a bit, reclining upon Link as support from her nearly unconscious body, yet she heard the whole conversation in whole. Thank the Goddess' for the long elven ears, Eh?

"Why, when you mention it, it was her time! Oh dear me, Jabu Jabu must have been poisoned like your poor guardian and now instead of the contents being evil, he is evil instead." He was shifting his weight back and forth, when suddenly his eyes fixated upon Link. "You will go and rescue her tomorrow, or tonight? Please, let it be as soon as possible, I am ready for my daughter's safe return and I know you are ready for your present."

"Tomorrow, dear king, my partner here has been to the Gerudo Valley today looking for clues your daughter's disappearance, I think he deserves a nights rest and a full meal tomorrow, what do you say?"

"Well, of course, and when you bring her back we shall have a feast in your honour. Now, go on and eat your meal for tonight, I will have you some freshly cooked fish in the morning. Also, I want you to keep that bottle forever, it is sort of a reward. Be sure before you visit the domain of Jabu Jabu that you put a fish and water in there. The Lord would never let you into his bowels without an offering, at least for the past few weeks he hasn't.

"You actually travel inside him, how big is this guy!" -Leaning against one of the unlit torches, Link was trying to brave the conscious world, yet trying to listen to his next mission objectives, too.

"You'll see. Ah, look at you, poor thing." Clapping his fins together, two guards suddenly appeared out of no wh