We left the area where the Great Deku Tree had just died.  I couldn’t believe he was gone. He was an idol to all of the forest children, especially Link.  But, for some reason I thought Link was concerned with helping me mourn than mourning the Deku Tree himself.       It was pretty dark out when we got out, so we decided to crash at his place for the night.  There was no reason to go to the castle so late.  The Princess was probably asleep, anyway.

        I decided to bathe, or at least partially bathe, under the waterfall that was by the shop. No one was out, anyway, but I still kept my clothes on.  My clothes needed washed anyway because it still had guts and egg junk on it.  I had no soap because it didn’t even seem to exist in Hyrule, but I just wanted to at least wash away the dirty feeling.
        I took off my boots and dipped my feet in the pool of water.  Since it was dark, the water was cold, so I hesitated before getting in.  I took off my hat before dipping my head in the water.  Surprisingly, Max was not sleeping in my hat.  He and Navi seemed really upset after the Great Deku Tree had passed and I think they went out together to just talk for a second.
        I desperately wanted shampoo and conditioner for my hair, but I knew I would never find any.  I had no choice, so I just put random mud in my hair and lathered it.  The mud probably didn’t do anything for my hair, but it still felt like it was doing something.  My hair did feel smoother, though.
        While I was bathing, I felt a little awkward.  It felt like someone was watching me.  That thought was confirmed by some rustling that I heard in the bushes.  It made me angry so I shouted, “Alright you perv, you can come out of the bushes now.”
        The bushes still moved around, but no one came out.
        “I’m not mad at you or anything,” I said calmly to try and fish the ass out.  “I just don’t like to be stared at, especially when I’m trying to wash myself…sort of.”
        There was still rustling in the bushes, but I couldn’t tell what was going on.  I got out of the water and went towards the bush.  It was in front of Saria’s house, so I didn’t bother putting my boots back on. The grass felt soft on my feet, which were really sore from being inside the Great Deku Tree.
        “Hello,” I said. “Who’s there?  It’s okay to come out.  I won’t hurt you.”
        I got close to the bush and a zigzagged tail popped out.  It was a bright yellow.  The tail was wiggling around and I made the mistake of grabbing it.  Why was that a mistake, you might ask.  Well, the next thing I knew, a jolt of electricity surged through my body. For some reason, it didn’t hurt too much.  I mean, it didn’t even hurt a little bit, but I felt it. 
        I pulled the tail out of the bushes and a whole body came out.  It was a rodent like body with pointing ears, small eyes, and tiny legs.  It must have been terrified because it just kept releasing electricity out of these red, circle pouches on its cheeks.  It was saying something every time it released the jolts too, but it definitely wasn’t in English.
        “C’mon little guy,” I said, “quit shocking me, you’re going to wake people up.”  It was making an awful lot of noise for such a small, rodent like thing. 
        “Ash, what is that?” I heard Link shout.  I looked over and he was standing outside of his tree house wiping his eyes.
        “I don’t know, but this thing keeps shocking me,” I said.  “Weird thing is that it’s not hurting me at all.”
        Link climbed down the ladder to get a look.  He was wearing these light green, footsie pajamas and a floppy hat similar to his typical one, but with a fuzzy ball on the end of it.
        Link got over to me and I looked up and down at him. He looked so ridiculous, so I said, “You’re not serious, right?”
        “About what?” he asked.
        “Your pajamas are stupid, dude,” I said, “but I’m sure I’m not the first one to tell you that.”
        “Saria said they were cute…” Link said and he trailed off.
        The poor little creature I was holding was panting and its jolt of electricity started to get weaker.  Not only could I tell by feeling the jolts, but I could tell by how much light the electricity was producing.  The light the electricity generated dimmed even more as it went on.
        “Wow, let me hold it,” Link said.
        “First, let’s go inside of your house, I don’t want this thing to get away.”
        I decided to leave my boots by the waterfall and climbed up the ladder to Link’s home. I was good enough at the whole ladder climbing thing to now climb with one hand, seeing as I would have to lug the creature around by its tail.
        We entered Link’s home.  Despite getting up to see what I was doing, Link’s bed was freshly made.  He seemed to be a fairly tidy person and I hated tidy people.  But, it made me smile when I looked over at his couch thing, which he put a big cushion on and made me a place to sleep.  He even gave me one of his pillows and a stuffed ball with wings which must have been his “fairy” when he didn’t have one.
        “Alright, let me hold this thing now,” Link said and he held out his arms eagerly.  I really didn’t understand why he had the desire to hold such a dangerous thing.
        I just shrugged and handed him the thing.  Link held it by its underarms, looking at it square in the face.  The thing was still looking pretty angry and, as I predicted, it shot out surges electricity.  Link, who was like a missile, shot back and hit the wall above his couch. Luckily for him, he landed on the big, fluffy cushion.
        I quickly grabbed the little thing and held it.  I stared into its black eyes and it blinked. It decided to shock me again, but I didn’t fly back like Link did.  I thought it was odd, especially since I had previously taken a dip in water and the electricity wasn’t affecting me at all.  I didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain.
        The little guy must have gotten tired because it put its ears down.  I could see the look of defeat in its eyes so I sat down on my couch cushion, where Link laid unconscious.  I laid the thing down and it went straight to sleep by the stuffed fairy.  I tried to wake Link up, but he wouldn’t budge so I was forced to sleep on the couch with him and the thing, whatever it was.

        Later that night, I felt something shuffling around.  I woke up in an instant to see Link beside me.  His face was all distressed, but he was still asleep.  He must’ve been having a bad dream.  I watched him as his nightmare kept going.  It must have been intense too, because I could see all his muscles getting tense.  I didn’t know what to do, so I shook him and tried to get him to wake up.
        Link awoke in a cold sweat.
        “Oh, thank god that was just a dream,” Link said quietly and placed his hand on his chest.
        “Are you okay?” I asked.
        “Yeah, I just had a nightmare is all,” he said.
        “What was it about?”
        He just looked at me for a second, but said, “It doesn’t matter.  I’m just glad you were here to wake me up.”  Link smiled and lay back down and I noticed that the creature was still asleep between Link and I.  I pet its pointy, yellow ears.  I was so interested in finding out what this creature was, but I decided not to rile my brain up thinking what it was.  If I lingered on the thought too long, I would never be able to return to sleep.
        I would just wait until morning to figure out what it was.

        That morning I woke up and saw Link packing a bag, the creature smelling my head, and the fairies were swimming in a cup of coffee.  Or rather the liquid looked like coffee.  I figured it was nasty Hyrule water or something.
        I sat up and the creature jumped right on my lap and sat there.  Link turned around and smiled brightly.  “Good morning,” he said.  “I hope the couch was comfortable enough for you.  I found you a cushion so you wouldn’t have to sleep on the wood.”
        “It was fine, thanks,” I said.
        I wasn’t sure what to do.  It was weird waking up in a medieval setting.  I could bet that Hyrule didn’t know a thing about dental hygiene, so I didn’t need to brush my teeth.  I hadn’t been hungry since I got to this dump, so I didn’t need to eat breakfast or anything.  I felt awkward in Link’s house, though.  I felt uncomfortable that we both slept on the same thing and I felt uneasy that he was the first thing I saw that morning.  I was so used to seeing my parents…
        I decided to go out and get some fresh air for a bit and the creature followed me. I climbed down the ladder, but the creature just tilted its head and said something like this: “Pika.”
        “Pika?” I said.  “Like Topeka?”
        The creature looked dumbfounded and shook its head.  I held out my hands and said, “C’mon, I’ll catch you.”
        The thing jumped into my arms.  It was actually light and very cuddly.  As I walked on, the thing went from my arms to my shoulder and sat there.  It kept looking around rapidly and sometimes climbed on my head to see things better.  Once we got to the pool of water, I put on my boots and put back on my floppy hat.  The creature leapt off my shoulder and started to eat the grass.
        “You’re really cute,” I said, petting it as it ate.  I started to scratch behind its pointy yellow ears and it cooed, “Pikachu.” Its foot started to move too, like a dog’s would when you got their sweet spot on their bellies.
        “Can I ask you some questions?” I said.
        “Pika,” it said and it smiled.  It must have understood what I was saying.
        “Alright then. Are you a girl?”
        “Pikachu,” it said in a deep voice and it shook its head.
        “So you’re a boy?”
        “Pika!” it shouted in delight.
        “Are you from around here?”
        The thing shook his head no.
        “Well, do you have a name?”
        He shook his head again.
        “Would you like me to give you a name?”
        “Pik-Pikachu!” he said and he nodded.
        “How about Lemon for your name?”
        He shrugged his shoulders and I read his mind.  He didn’t care too much for that one.
        “Yeah, that’s not that creative I suppose. So how about Pineapple?”
        This things expression said no.
        “Percy?”
        Nope.
        “Uh, Lime?”
        Nope.
        “Squash?”
        The expression I got from him was total disgust.
        “Cheese?”
        Nope.
        “Milo?”
        No.
        “Lux?”
        That one took a while.  The creature looked to the side and crossed its little arms.  His ears twitched a couple times before he grinned and nodded to me.
        “Lux it is then,” I said.  I thought he would like that one.  It meant light in Latin, but it had that sting to it, like electricity does.
        We made our way back to Link’s home and I was looked down at Lux who was walking beside me at my feet.  He smiled and it seemed he was really happy to be with me, which I was extremely happy with.  I still wasn’t sure what he was, but he was awful cute.  His yellow fur shined in the light of the morning sun as we made our way towards Link’s home.
        Before I looked ahead of me, I saw a foot tapping furiously on the ground.  I looked up and there was Mido.  He looked angry, which I understood, but I didn’t want to deal with anything at that moment.  I was still a bit tired from being woken up the previous night before so I could be grumpy.
        “Ash, get out of my forest,” Mido said rashly.
        “Well, the Great Deku Tree told me and Link to leave anyway, so let me just get him and we’ll be on our way,” I said.  I put my hand on the fourth step of the ladder and Mido grabbed my wrist.
        “The Great Deku Tree is now dead!”  Mido shouted.  “I knew you would cause trouble, just like that green guy did when he walked in.  I saw you talking to him. You both planned on killing the Great Deku Tree, didn’t you?  Now you plan on befriending and using Link to cause this forest chaos.”
        “No,” I said.  He was glaring at me.  His eyes would not leave mine.
        “Get out of my forest,” he repeated and his voice became more hostile.  “Link is not leaving; he can’t.  The Great Deku Tree would never put one of his children in danger.  You’re going to kill Link, too.  I honestly don’t see anything special about him, but the Great Deku Tree thought he was special, so I have to protect him now.”
        “Let go of me,” I said.
        “No,” Mido snapped.
        “You’re just going to have to trust me on this.  I did not kill the Deku Tree, nor will I kill Link.  That green guy is named Ganondorf Dragmire.  He’s the one who laid a curse on the Deku Tree.  Link and I busted our butts to try and save the Deku Tree, but he died.  You might not believe me, but I have a job to do and so does Link.  You’re not the boss of us, even if you think you are.  Now let go of me and get out of my way.”
        “No,” Mido said again.
        Mido suddenly took out a knife and put it to my throat.  He then said, “Do as I say and you will be fine.  I don’t care about Hyrule, you can help that green man and take it out, but you will not get my forest.”
        This kid then pressed the blade further on my throat and said, “Prepare to die, my friend.”
        Suddenly, Lux used his electricity on Mido.  Mido fell over from the pain and Lux jumped on him, yelling at him.  Link came out to see the commotion and jumped off the balcony of his home.
        Mido broke some skin when the blade of his knife was on my neck, so a little bit of blood dripped from the thin cut.  Link saw it and then looked at Mido who was pinned on the ground by Lux with his knife beside his hand.  Link walked forward and kneeled so he could talk to Mido.
        “I know that this girl pushed her blade to your throat,” Link said, “but you were acting like a five year old not letting us pass anyway.  Ash never broke the skin on your neck though, but you did on hers, which tells me that you were planning on killing her.  I have to leave with her now, but if we do come back, you better not lay a hand on her, or I’ll take care of you.”
        Link stood up and Lux jumped off of Mido.  Link shouted for Navi and Max and they flew down to us.  In an instance, my heart felt warm.  I had never had someone stand up for me like Link did.  Just watching him stand up for me made me think about him and it made me smile.  I didn’t know what I was feeling, but I was breathless.
        “Let’s get on our way,” Link said, smiling.  He held out his hand and I placed mine on his palm.  He wrapped his fingers around my hand and squeezed it.  His eyes were sparkling in the sunlight and I couldn’t tear my eyes around from the sight.  He let go of my hand and gestured me to follow him.  He started to walk towards the exit.
        “Sounds good,” I said and it took me awhile to remember how to breathe.  I snapped back to reality and touched my neck which was barely bleeding.  I really could’ve been dead, but Lux saved me.  I looked down at the little guy who was walking beside me.
        It was then that I realized that he would be my partner until the end.

        We were on a bridge between the fields of Hyrule and the forest.  It was scary for me to leave the forest, but I had to go outside of the forest at some point to help its fate.  However, it was probably even scarier for Link seeing as the Kokiri thought that if they left the forest, they would get sick and die.
        We stood at the bridge for a bit and Link looked out towards the woods.  He walked closer to the bridge’s edge, which was cut off by rope so no one would fall down.  Link leaned over and looked out at the trees.  They were called the Lost Woods or something, but I hadn’t really explored it yet.  I was just waiting for Link to be ready to leave these woods, but I wouldn’t rush him.  After all, he had lived there his whole life.
        “Are you going to be okay?” I asked him.  I was really worried that leaving the forest would be hard on him. 
        “Yeah,” Link said, “I just can’t believe I’m leaving, you know?”
        “Yeah, it must seem pretty wild.”  I hesitated for a second, but I walked up beside him and leaned on the rope with him. 
        “Or scary…”
        I sighed and looked out. “We have to leave sometime.”  I think he took that the wrong because he looked slowly to the side.  “But,” I started, trying to make him feel better, “I’ll be here for you when we leave.  I won’t abandon you.”
        “Yeah, I know.”  Link paused for a few seconds and then he looked at me.  There was some sadness and uncertainty in his eyes.  “I think I’m ready to go.”
        “Are you sure?” I asked.
        “I’m as sure as I’ll ever be.”  He smiled and we started to walk away.
        “Link, Ashley, wait,” a soft voice said.  I turned around and saw Saria standing there.  “Ashley, I’m going to give you and Link something, but I want to say a few words to Link before he leaves.”
        “Well sure, you can say what you want to,” I said.
        Saria grabbed Link’s hand and took him over to the edge of the bridge.  I waited for a couple minutes as they began to talk.  Saria had on a concerned expression and kept looking over at me for some reason.  Link and Saria then hugged and she handed him two things. They both looked like potatoes.
        Saria left with a tear or two in her eye and Link looked at me and handed me the potatoes.  She turned around to give Link one last wave before she disappeared into the forest.
        “Yum, food,” I said, even though I thought it was weird to give someone potatoes as a parting gift.
        “No, these are ocarinas,” Link said.  “Saria must have made them for us both.  She loves to play them.  She’s played on ever since I could remember.”
        “Wow,” I said and blew into the tip of it.  It produced a horrible sounding note.
        “We’ll work on your playing later,” Link said, “let’s get out of here now.”
        Link quickly left and I followed.  Something was wrong, but I didn’t know what, so to keep myself from bothering him any further, I decided to not say anything.  I knew we probably had a big adventure ahead of us and I didn’t want to stress him anymore than I had been.
        When we passed through the log that led us to Hyrule, the morning sun showed right as soon as we reached the other side.  It must have been scary for Link to see the sun because you could barely see it beyond the thick leaves of the forest trees.  We followed the path, which led us through a small wave of trees.  I was a little scared that Hyrule was all forest but I was proven wrong when we got to the end of the path. 
        “Wow,” I said.  It was beautiful.  What greeted us at the end of the path was a huge, open field.  There were hardly any trees and this wall that I really wanted to climb on, just to look over some things.  I walked a bit further, mesmerized by the view. Even at home I had never seen anything that beautiful.
        “Well, we better keep going,” Link said. “I would sure like to see the princess as soon as we can.”
        “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said.  I came back to earth and started to walk with Link.
        The further we walked, the more we got to see.  The field opened up to us a whole new look of things.  I had never seen a field like this and Link had never seen anything beyond the forest.  It seemed amazing to the both of us, but we had to keep walking.  I was sure there would be plenty of time later to explore the vast world of Hyrule.
        We soon came to a draw bridge which was down.
        “This must be the castle,” Navi said.  “We should find the princess soon.”
        Link and I walked over the bridge and into what seemed to be the castle square.  According to a sign above us, the square was known as the Market Place.  It must have been the place to shop, seeing as throngs of people were carrying bags and rushing to stores.  I thought of buying some clothes to replace the stupid tunic, but as I looked at the clothes that the women were wearing, I decided that my tunic was just fine.
        Link and I decided to split up for a little while.  Link was in an odd mood so I didn’t want to mess with him.  He just needed some alone time because whatever Saria told him must have really beat him up.
        I walked around a bit and found a potion shop. There was only one shop in Kokiri so I needed to see what other types of shops were around. There might have been something really important that Link and I had been missing out on.
        I entered the potion shop to find a younger man tending to the various bottles on the shelves.  I was a little concerned when I walked in because he seemed to be shoving a glowing, pink ball into this teeny tiny bottle with a pestle.  Max immediately flew behind my head which gave me the notion that he didn’t want to see this guy pound the crap out of this little fairy.  The shop keeper really seemed to enjoy it, however.

        After a few uncomfortable seconds I finally said, “Uh, excuse me.”

        My words seemed to scare the shop keeper and he dropped the glass bottle and the pestle.  I saw the fairy spring up from behind the counter and fly with a limp wing.  That didn’t deter it from escaping. 

        “I’m free!” it shouted with its tiny, shrill voice.  I stepped out of its way and it flew right out of the shop.

        “Why’d you let him go?” the guy shouted, holding out his hands.  “It took me forever to get one of those things.  I had to go to that damn forest and all those kids followed me around like they’d never seen a human being before.”

        “I’m, er, sorry,” I said to him and he just sighed.

        “That’s-that’s quite alright,” the guy said and leaned against the counter.  He rested his head on his arm and looked outside.  “It’s not your fault.  I shouldn’t have been so…careless.”

        “Is there any way I can make it up to you?” I asked.  I actually felt bad for the guy, even though he was basically killing that fairy when he shoved it in the bottle.

        “Just buy something, I guess,” the guy said.

        I walked up to the counter and felt Max wriggle into my hat.  He was probably afraid that I would give him to the shop keeper, seeing as I let the other fairy go. 

        Greeting me behind the counter were several different potions and objects.  There were green, red, and blue liquids floating in bottles, a blue flame in a lantern, a purple blob in a bottle, and a fish swimming around in a plastic baggy. 

        “Uh, what are the colored potions for?” I asked awkwardly.  I wanted to make some sort of conversation with this guy.  He looked pretty bummed.

        “The green refills magic,” he said, “the red refills energy, and the blue refills both.  Unfortunately, I’m afraid that your little baby wallet doesn’t hold enough rupees to buy yourself a bottle of blue potion.”

        I looked over at my waist which had the wallet around it.  It was basically a satchel and just hung there, much like my seed pouch did.  I opened it up to find a couple of rupees, but he was right.  I bet I could only fit ninety or so in there.

        “So, this is a potion shop then?” I asked him, just to make sure.    

        “Yeah, duh,” he said and rolled his eyes.

        I would have jumped all over his ass, but I decided to keep it civil.  “Then what is that bagged fish for?”

        He looked over at it and then back at me.  He looked around like he was fishing in his mind for an answer but just said, “Are you going to buy something or not?”

        “Yeah, sure,” I said and I rolled my eyes.  This guy was an ass.  “Um, give me one red and one green potion, please.”

        “That will be thirty rupees each,” the guy said and he went to the back.  I watched as he took a ladle and sampled the green and red potions; putting them in separate bottles.  He then threw them on the counter and I handed him the rupees. 

        “Thanks,” he said with absolutely no enthusiasm.  “Come again…not.” 
        I didn’t want to deal with this guy so I left quickly.  I put the bottles away, had Lux get on my shoulder, and continued to look around.  I decided to go to the shooting range.  They said, or rather the sign said, if someone broke the record, they would get some sort of prize.  I was all over that, of course.  It would at least kill some time, anyway.
        I walked in to find a rather big, hairy, and ugly dude at the counter.
        “Aren’t you a little young to be in here?” he asked.  I could smell alcohol on his breath.
        “I bet I can shoot a lot better then you,” I said to him.

        He just nodded and said, “Yeah, you could, seeing how I’m drunk all day, every day.”

        I rolled my eyes and sat some rupees on the table and went to the platform ahead where one had to stand to shoot at the targets.
        “Alright girlie, here we go,” the man said and I heard a ring.
        This game, unfortunately, was rather easy so I knocked out all of the rupees, which were the targets.  Once I hit the last one right on, the rupee burst into shiny, little pieces.
        “Congrats, girlie,” the man yelled.  “You won our greatest prize!”
        The man handed me a bigger pouch, so I could hold more seeds.  I took off the one I had around my waist and replaced it with the bigger one.
        “Thank you,” I said and I left.  I swear his breath was making me tipsy, so I needed some fresh air.
        When I walked out, I heard some singing.  I looked over to see a girl standing there; swaying back and forth to her own melody.  She had shiny, red hair and looked to be about my age.  This girl was actually pretty good at singing, so I walked up to her and listened.  She opened her eyes after she sang the ending note of her song and said, “Oh, you must be a child from the forest! I love your clothes.”
        “Thanks,” I said.
        “I saw a boy dressed up just like you.  Are you guys siblings, or better yet, are you married?”
        “Well, no, we’re, um, friends, I guess.”
        “This guy seemed sort of upset though.  Did you make him angry?”
        “No, he’s just irritated.”
        “Well, my name’s Malon,” she said and held out her hand.  I hesitated at first, seeing how dirty it was, but I wanted to be polite.  I shook her hand, which made her smile brighten a bit.  “Do you know the Lon Lon ranch?”
        “I’m new here, so no,” I said.
        “Well, it’s this beautiful ranch right in the middle of Hyrule field.  We have horses, cows, and chickens, but my favorite are the horses.”
        “Why are you here?” I asked.
        “Well, my father went into the gates of the castle this morning, but as you can see the sun is setting.  He has this terrible habit of dozing off, so I’m afraid he’s asleep somewhere on the castle grounds.  I’m really scared to leave him, so I just stay here and sing.” 

        “I, uh, have to enter the castle anyway, so I could look out for him.  What does he look like?”
        “He’s rather chubby and has a big, round nose. Oh, and he’s wearing overalls.”
        “Is his name Mario?” I asked.
        “No silly, his name’s Talon.  What kind of name is Mario?”
        “I’m not sure, a pretty dumb one, I guess.”
        “Ooh, what’s that cutie pie?” Malon asked.  She was looking at my feet and pointed at Lux.
        “This is my, uh, shrew, Lux,” I said faintly.  I really had no idea what it was and I was a little embarrassed about that.
        “He is so cute! Where can I get one?”

        “They’re extremely rare.  Just look in some bushes and you might find one.”

        “Alright!” Malon said and she started to look around.  I figured she was looking for some bushes.
        “Uh…I’m going to go and find your father after I find my friend, so wait here.  Or at least wait around here, and I’ll bring him here to you.”
        “Alright, but I need to give you this egg first.”
        Malon suddenly pulled out an object and handed me an egg.  “Since you technically can’t get into the castle until the morning, I want you to have this,” she said.  “I’ve been taking really good care of this egg, so it should hatch in the morning.  My father only wakes up to the sound of a chicken, so you will need to find a place to at least crash for the night.”
        “Do you have somewhere to go for the night?” I asked Malon.  I didn’t just want to leave her by herself, especially in a town at night.
        “Oh yeah, I can stay somewhere tonight,” Malon said.  “I’m friends with a woman here. This isn’t the first time my father has fallen asleep in the castle.”
        “Alright, well I will see you tomorrow. Thank you for the egg.”