Chapter Two: A Fairy at Last

Link sat on the edge of his bed, panting and sweating. For the fifth night in a row, he had found himself once again having the nightmare about the girl riding away on the horse. He had been having the dream for months, but it was happening every night now. And that man…. Something told Link that the evil man had intended to kill him with that blast. And succeeded. His heart pounded as he tried to remember the dream that kept slipping away from him when he awakened. He tried to remember what the girl looked like, what she had thrown to him, but it was all disappearing so quickly….

His blond hair fell out of his cap as he shook his head in confusion.

There was also the matter of the fairy. Link had always hoped that one day a fairy would come to him, so he could be like all the other Kokiri kids. Then he wouldn’t get teased as much by Mido, the self proclaimed leader of them all. But, though his ninth birthday had come and gone, no guardian fairy had flown in his window to be his lifelong partner.

And yet, there had been one, right there, hovering around his head, trying to help him, when no help could be had…but Link had no fairy, and probably never would.

So what was one doing at the scene of his death?

Link shuddered at the choice of his words.He was ten now. This was the age when most Kokiri stopped “growing” and remained children forever. They never grew up, and never died. But he still should be old enough not to be afraid of his dreams.

Or of death, even.

Since it would never happen to him.

There had been times he had really waned to die. Because he never got a fairy, he was never allowed to join in the games the other children played. He had always been picked on and laughed at. Mido, being so fond of his new object of fun, had even given him a nickname, Mr. No Fairy.

Every night before he went to sleep he wished on shooting stars for a fairy partner, and every morning when he awakened, he anxiously hoped to see a fairy coming to him through the window. He had even spent all of his tenth birthday wishing for a fairy, all day, only to be disappointed again.

The only thing that had kept him going was his best friend, Saria. She had curly green hair and a sassy yellow-orange fairy named Ellen. She had raised Link from the time when he had been born from the forest spirits. When he had gotten older, however, she took the role of his friend, rather than the role of caretaker. It had worked out well. They told each other everything, laughed when the other was happy, and tried to be sympathetic when the other was upset. Saria had never failed to stand up for him against Mido, and even though he was old enough to stand up for himself, she yelled at Mido every chance she got, which was usually when Link got picked on.

None of the other Kokiri kids were brave enough to stand up to Mido, because he was so big, but a small handful had told Link that they didn’t mind him not having a fairy, and they didn’t participate in the acts that Mido did to torment Link. Link was grateful that they didn’t pick on him, the “village runt,” but he still found himself wishing he had a fairy so he could have more friends.

Link untangled himself from his bedcovers and dried himself off, muttering to himself, “Just a dream, a really bad dream....”

The problem with the dream, the really big problem, was that all he could tell Saria was that it was a bad dream. He couldn’t remember enough to tell her anything else. And with just that, she could give him no advice.

He had been soaked in sweat, so he changed clothes before drinking some water to wake himself up a bit, and walked out the door. When he got to the landing before the ladder that led down to the ground, Mido was waiting for him. Link was unpleasantly surprised. Now what did he want?

Link climbed down the ladder slowly, bracing himself for verbal abuse, but before he could put one foot on the ground, Mido shoved him into a small mud puddle by the ladder. Link fell down, getting his clothes dirty. He felt his face grow hot and he felt tears burning at the corners of his eyes, but he swallowed it back. He’d had a lot of practice at that. Mido had already started walking away, laughing. A few of the children came to see what had happened and they started laughing too.

“Hey!” Link yelled after Mido. “What was that for?”

He didn’t get an answer; Mido was already long gone. He just sighed and went back up the ladder to change his clothes. He would look to make sure Mido wasn’t there next time. He sighed again as he reached the landing in front of his door. He felt like his whole life consisted of avoiding bullies.

***

Navi the fairy watched as the chosen boy, the only one without a fairy of his own, was once again teased by the other Kokiri. She had her orders from the Great Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the Kokiri Forest, to watch over this boy, until his time of destiny came.

And it was coming. Evil had been entering the land of Hyrule. She could feel it, and she had seen him have nightmares. She was getting really sick of watching Link getting picked on. Even though what was coming would mean horrible things, and hardships he would have to face, a part of her almost wished it would hurry up. She almost wanted to go on an adventure

But she shook herself mentally every time she thought this. She didn’t want that. She had already witnessed far too much battling and excitement and blood. How long had it been since she brought that boy here? Almost ten years...yet the memories were still fresh and raw, and she didn’t like that. She wanted them to go away.

She watched as Link came back down the ladder. He checked the bottom before climbing down. This time, however, Mido was hiding behind it, and he again pushed Link down in the mud.

Navi knew Link learned fast. He wouldn’t come back down now, not even for breakfast, and he ate enough to feed all of Hyrule’s army. She felt hot with anger. It would be at least noon before Mido forgot about the stalking game and found someone else to pick on. She was helpless to do anything to help, restricted by her orders from the Deku Tree. She watched as he climbed back up the ladder.

She was about to go skim through the pond for a second, to cool off, when the Deku Tree contacted her telepathically.

Telepathic communication was not uncommon among fairies and the Deku Tree himself. Anyone could do it, so long as the connection between the two people was opened. Some people were born knowing how to open it, some had to learn, and some couldn’t do it even if they tried. All fairies could do it, as well as most Hylian prophets and a few creatures from other races that learned magic—whether it had come naturally, or from books. Most fairies were so practiced at it that they could read someone’s surface thoughts without them knowing, and they tended to talk to their children telepathically so much that the kids eventually learned how to open the connection by themselves, or even get traces of what their fairy was thinking.

Navi, he thought to her, Art thou alone?

Yes, she answered.

Good. The King of Evil hast found me at last, and put me under a curse. I...have very little time left.

Navi gasped out loud, and thought frantically to the Deku Tree, No, please don’t think like that. It’ll be fine. We’ll remove the curse. You can’t go, the children need you!

She had met with the King of Evil before this, and knew he had no mercy in his heart. But she couldn’t accept that the guardian of her home was dying. She just couldn’t.

Navi, the old tree thought to her, thou must remain’eth calm. I know I will not survive the curse. I am very old, Navi. My time approached me long before this, and no matter how quickly we act, I will soon perish.

No, Navi thought, a tear making its way slowly down her face.

Navi, the tree thought, feeling her sadness, thou must not grieve for me. Thou must make haste, and find the child that ye brought here ten years ago. I am sure that he can help me. He must get the Kokiri’s Emerald before the King of Evil does.

Then we can give it to him, can’t we? she asked.

No, the old tree responded heavily. He is indeed the one with the power to fulfill the prophecies, but he has to make the choice to undertake the task.

He will, Navi thought at once. I know he will.

Very well, the tree responded. Either way, he must see me before my time is up. Navi, the task of telling him of his true identity may well fall to thee.

Navi’s eyes grew wide. I don’t know if I’m up to that kind of thing, she told the Deku Tree desperately. I mean, I’m just a fairy....

Navi, you saved him from a terrible fate. Thou art no ordinary fairy. Ye can face the challenges ahead of both of you. I place my faith in thee, Navi.

Navi nodded. I’ll be there as soon as I can, Great Deku Tree, she said, wiping away another tear.

This was it. She always knew this would happen one day. She had never really wanted it to. Sure, she wished for a little excitement now and then, but she knew in her heart she hadn’t wanted it to happen.

She had started it.

Then she asked herself the question that had been lurking at the edges of her mind for ten years.

Will I be able to finish it?

***

As he climbed back up the ladder, Link saw Saria watching, but he pretended not to. He knew she would probably yell at Mido, but it didn’t make Link feel any better. He should have looked, should have seen Mido, he shouldn’t have been so stupid. He really hated the way Mido could make him feel so dumb. Link changed clothes and lay on his bed. No way was he going back down there. Let some other idiot get picked on.

Link was still brooding, looking out the window and wishing for a fairy, when something small and round flew in through his door and thwacked him on the side of his head. Thing yelped at the same time as Link did.

“Ow!” Link said. Then his eyes widened at what he saw. The thing landed in his hand, and looked up at him. It was only a ball of light, but he could tell it was grinning at him. “Hiya, Link.”

It was a fairy.

Link couldn’t believe his eyes. He said shakily, “W-wait a sec. I…I must be dreaming. This is impossible. I mean, this isn’t happening. This is way too good to be true. Are you...are you my fairy?”

The fairy grinned at him again. “Yup!”

“No way,” Link whispered. “This is too good to actually happen to me.”

“Think what you want,” said the fairy. “Listen, I’ve sort of been...watching you...your whole life....” her voice trailed off, but then she added brightly, “but I got tired of it, so I’m your partner now!”

Link just stared at her. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Navi. We can work out all the official stuff later, but right now....” Navi couldn’t help but grin even wider at the look on his face, “Right now, the Deku Tree wants to see you.” She waited for his reaction.

Link sat weakly on his bed so he wouldn’t collapse. He stammered, “Y-you’re kidding, right? I got a fairy and the Deku Tree wants to see me? This is a dream. This is a really bizarre dream....”

Navi took flight from his hand and began to hover lightly around his head. “Well,” she said, “even if it is, you’ve still got to go see the Deku Tree. If I don’t bring you back, I’m one cooked fairy.”

He nodded at her, dazed. “Okay then, but first…” He went to the tree stump in the center of his room. After pounding it a bit, it came open. Link was slightly surprised to hear her gasp.

“You mean you’ve been watching me all my life and you never knew about this?”

Navi flew over to inspect the opening. “No.”

Link climbed down the ladder, and reached for the lantern at the bottom of the hole, but realized he didn’t need it. He grinned. “Saria told me these things have been here forever. They’re underground passages that connect all the houses to each other. Only me and Saria know about them, it’s a secret. She says even though I’m the newest Kokiri, I probably know my way around this place and the Lost Woods as good as she does. And no one knows it better than her.” There was a rare note of pride in his voice.

They had been continuing through the dark, damp tunnel all the while he had been talking. Now they reached a fork, but Link didn’t turn right or left. He knocked softly on the wall in front of him. “Saria, you in there?”

To Navi’s surprise, the wall opened, and all at once they were inside Saria’s house. “I didn’t want to go back down the ladder,” Link explained to them. He looked out the window. Sure enough, there was Mido, ready at the foot of the ladder to give Link another mud bath.

Link walked inside and closed the wall, which Navi noticed was cleverly hidden behind the stove. Saria only stared at him. He grinned. “So I guess I’m really not dreaming?”

“You got a fairy....”

“I could have told you that,” said Link, giving her a half grin.

“You really got a fairy....”

“I know, isn’t it great?”

“You got a fairy!”

Saria hugged him, hard, and he was nearly knocked over into the stove.

“Saria—you’re choking me, get off.”

“Sorry...but...you got a fairy!” She sat down weakly on her bed.

“I know.”

Link then proceeded to tell her he needed to see the Deku Tree, or rather, the Deku Tree wanted to see him, and watched as her face turned from shocked to joyful. She stood up and gave him another hug.

“That’s great! I’m really happy for you. Mido is gonna explode!” she said gleefully.

Link hadn’t thought about that. “I know! Hey, Navi, you don’t mind me showing you off a little before I go, do you?”

She did. They had to hurry. But she couldn’t bring herself to ruin his moment. “Well, just a little. We do have to hurry to the Deku Tree.”

Saria’s pointy ears perked up. “Hey, do you need an escort?”