Nagori, Saimon and Senkyoku - A Wind Waker Tale

Chapter 13: The Trouble with Fairies

Link sat and thought about the story, while it had explained some things, it also raised more questions. He looked down at Saimon and realized the little fairy was exhausted; all that translating must have been very wearing on him. He was probably still weak from his time being caught in that resonance. So, Link decided to ask only a few questions and hope Jabun would answer with as few embellishments as possible. He'd just have to figure the rest out on his own.

Once the King of the Red Lions came back, Link intended to go to see the Deku Tree; he may be able to shed some more light on the forest daemon issue. That had to have been Fado, though Link knew the Kokiri Forest sage probably didn't put up much of a fight. It would explain why the Deku Tree's children no longer took on child like form. Though it did not explain the disappearance of the guiding fairies, so prevalent at that time. Makar, the Great Sea's Wind Sage would be there for the New Years Ceremony and who knows what kind of information he could get from him.

He thought back to the dream he'd had a few days before. Al had said it was not a dream but a memory, the older children might have been Al and his sister, but who was the man on the cliff face? He tried to remember the faces of the adults he had seen, but they had been so far away the details were sketchy.

He couldn't remember if Medli, the Sage of Earth was back on Dragonroost or not, though talking to Valoo might be helpful. Still more than anything else, he wanted to talk to Saimon directly. There were so many questions he wanted to ask. Link paused as he remembered something, I am such an idiot.' "Jabun?"

"Yes Wind Waker?"

"Do you know what the young man wished for?"

"No, I only know that he did, though undoubtedly the Fairy Queen does."

"Of course," Link said as he pushed the sand around with a stick he'd found lying nearby. "Can you tell me why Al came here, I'm having a hard time believing it was just to help me find Tetra."

"I believe," the water deity said after a short silence, "he intends to try to free his sister from the Shadow's influence once and for all."

"Do you know how Delia fell back into shadow?"

"No, though Senkyoku should have prevented this."

Saimon turned to Jabun and spoke. The great fish actually wore a look of astonishment and said in a quiet tone, "Indeed, this is a disturbing piece of news."

"What is?"

"Senkyoku is being held captive, she is trapped in a crystal pendant Kei wears around her neck."

"That is disturbing." Link imagined that's what would have eventually happened to Saimon if he'd not interfered. "And if he can't help his sister?" The great fish spoke but Link did not understand the answer. Saimon did not translate it. Link looked down at the fairy that sat unmoving next to the stone, staring out over the water. "Saimon, I know you can understand me. Please, I need to know the answer."

The fairy looked up at Link, his wings twitched and he frowned. After a moment the fairy said, "He will kill her."

******

Tetra watched fascinated as Link silently struggled with his pack and somehow managed to pull out the boomerang and set himself up for a throw. The door opened, the weapon flew, was plucked out of the air, and Tetra got her first look at who she could only assume was Dalkin. Old guy, average height and build, but what she found most interesting was the point of light that flew intermittently around him, sometimes right in his face, other times shooting up into his odd shaped hat. But whatever it did, the old man seemed to ignore the light, as if he was so used to it being there, like it was a finger or something.

Link meanwhile burned his relighting the lamp while he and the old man talked for a minute or two, and once Dalkin had finished looking at Link's weaponry he pulled out the Wind Waker. While it may have looked as though he was waving it randomly, Tetra could hear the echo of the points he sketched out 6/4 time, up, down, left, left, right, down. She ticked it off in here head again, Why did that sound so familiar?

She looked back over at Link, he had the pirate charm in his left hand. He'd told her about his little trick. Of course, the circumstances around that revelation ended in a rather loud argument. Still, she was surprised to see one of his eyebrows go up after hearing an answer from Dalkin. Tetra watched as the old man talked to the fairy she knew Link could neither see nor hear. She also knew he could have a short temper if he thought you were leading him around. She recognized that intense look he reserved for possible enemies. Something that old man said has put his guard all the way up, she thought. He may look harmless, but that old man is dangerous.

Link seemed to come to a calculated decision and sat next to her on the bed. Though Tetra knew he couldn't see or hear her, his proximity unnerved her. A piece of a broken melody flitted through her head and she wrestled briefly with an urge to smack him. Where the hell did that come from..?When the broken melody returned, she felt her anger well up again and she squelched it. Whatever that melody was, she was determined not to let it get the better of her again.

Tetra leaned back against the wall and watched Link as he answered Dalkin's questions. It always amazed her how well he did it. She'd never met anyone who could put so much random information together so quickly and so well. Link, she knew, could talk a hoi pear out of its tree and it would thank him for it. She always admired that quality in him. Link, you may tell people you hate to guess, but the truth is, you live for it.

From that point on, they seemed to get on great, until the fairy light smacked into Dalkin's head so hard it made the old man's head tip back. Tetra smiled. Well Saimon has your attention now, she thought. The old man turned his direct attention back to the fairy; she could have sworn she saw the barest glimmer of red flare up in his eyes and whatever he just said caused that fairy to pop back into his hat. Then he was rubbing his head and speaking to Link, who started telling him some drawn out story, Dalkin had his eyes closed focusing on his words.

When the two picked up their things and left her cabin, she followed them out to the main deck. As she passed the main, she glanced up at it; all was back as it should be. She laughed to herself, knowing Link, he'd probably spent three days just on that. She heard someone come up behind her, but did not turn.

"Glad to see your up again," Gonzo said as he touched her lightly on the shoulder.

"Thanks, it's good to be awake," she said as she watched the pair of silent figures board the King of the Red Lions. "So where do you think they're off to?"

"I'm guessing Great Fish."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," she said as she sat up on the rail. "I wonder why he waited so long to go?" She watched as the little boat made its way out of the cave and looked on until it disappeared from view. Sighing she turned back to Gonzo. "So, how long was I out this time?"

He shrugged. "Only an hour or so."

"When did fairy boy get here?"

"Not too long after you collapsed."

"Collapsed?"

"You dropped off that ladder like stone."

"Well you don't need to worry about that happening again, I'm done with running."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"So what's been happening in the mean time?"

"Just watching the show." When she raised an eyebrow he continued, "When Link first got here he had Zill with him, but both were moving so fast it was impossible to keep an eye on them." He said and scratched his head. "Then they both just disappeared. Then Aryll was here, but only for a moment it seemed."

"Aryll was here?"

"Yeah, but she was moving slower than Link and Zill,"

"Really."

"Anyway, Link came back and he was moving fast, but not so fast that we couldn't keep track of where he was. Then he went into your cabin, but I figured if anything were wrong you had Nagori with you." He looked around for a moment. "Where is she anyway?"


"She was in my pocket a little bit ago." Tetra felt her pocket but the Fairy wasn't there. "That's weird," she said as she checked her other pockets. "Well maybe she's back in my cabin." But after two steps in that direction Tetra remember the Fairy Queen's last words to her:

"She will find her own purpose eventually but for now she will help you if she can, and will not leave you as long as you have need of her."

Tetra knew she wouldn't find the fairy in her cabin, with her connection to the Triforce of Wisdom restored, Nagori was free to find her purpose and Tetra was left to fend for herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jabun left Great Fish Island in search of a meal. He'd been stuck under the lake for almost three weeks and was quite famished. Link in the meantime inspected Saimon's wing; it looked all but mended and Saimon intermittently tested their flight worthiness. Tetra said she was on Outset now. How she had managed to get there and get her ship into that cave was a mystery, but he never put anything beyond her. If there was a way to do it, that woman would surely find it.

"Well Saimon, do we go to see the Deku Tree or the Fairy Queen first?"

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I could understand you?"

"Oh that." He shifted himself up out of the sand. "I remembered something Tetra said."

"The Princess?"

"Yes the Princess," he said with a smile. Saimon was clearly not understanding so Link continued, "When I asked her to ask you a question, you told her you could hear me just fine, of course I didn't get an answer... "

"You are well suited to your title, Wind Waker," Saimon said laughing.

"Just call me Link, okay?"

"Yes, you are much like the other."

"The other?"

"The other Link," Saimon said as he dragged the gossip stone behind him, "Dalkin's father's name was Link."

"Is that so? Well that is an interesting piece of trivia." He brushed most of the sand off and looked around. "Well once the King of Red Lions comes back we'll be able to get some answers, I hope."

"How do you know the boat will return?"

"I don't." He lowered his hand and the still flightless fairy climbed up. Link pulled the gossip stone over his head and stretched.

"How can you be sure we won't be stuck here?"

"I'm not," Link said picking up his pack. "I just have to trust the goddesses will know what the heck I'm doing and give me a little help now and then. It's getting late and I want to get out of this cave before dark."

Once outside the pair settled down for the night. Link looked up at the moon, it was a little more than quarter full. How long did it take that gate to close? If it went with the cycle of the moon then he had less than ten days left before the new moon. He thought back on Al's map, those red and green circles were coming back again. He pulled out his sea chart and realized why they had looked so familiar, they were the exact locations of the Triforce charts and pieces he had put together seven years before. "Saimon? How long have you been with Al?"

"A very long time."

"Do you know if he made the trap Tetra's in now?"

"He did not."

"If he didn't, who did?"

"I do not know."

While Link could tell Saimon was not being completely truthful, he was unsure why the fairy was doing it. Was it to protect Al? If so, from what? What happened all those years ago that would make him be concerned now? Surely everyone from that time had long since passed. Something just didn't fit but if.... "Saimon, those traps weren't set for the shadow at all. They were set for Al."

Startled the fairy looked at him and thought about his answer. "Dalkin, was not always as you see him now."

"Meaning, he wasn't such a nice guy?"

"Yes. Dalkin has very powerful magic, though he rarely uses it."

"What about Delia?"

"They are twins, equal in strength, but as different as night and day."

"When I was smaller my grandma used to tell us stories about the 'end times' there was a rhyme she used to tell us, I think it went like this:

One for Light, One for Dark
Bright as Day, Dark as Night
Heaven above, Hell below,
Mei and Kei together
Make the perfect shadow.

"But Grandma always said, if one was unwilling then they were out of balance, and the shadow couldn't form. Of course at the time this made no sense at all."

"Yes."

"Do you know why she came to this time?"

"Kei wishes to complete her assignment."

"Which was... "

"To return Ganon's spirit to this world."

"How can she do that, he's at the bottom of the ocean... "

"No Wind Waker, Dalkin sensed his presence again in this world and followed Kei's trail to this time."

"What was her assignment?"

"To kill the bearer of the Triforce of Courage and sprinkle his blood on a special stone."

"Well that's not good." Link knew which stone and if they dragged that damn thing all the way up to the top of the Tower...she could have just killed him in the cavern. "Why didn't Kei just kill me in the cavern?"

"Dalkin wouldn't allow it."

"Another reason the Great Fairy on Outset warned me to stay out of this area, but why bother luring and keeping Tetra in a trap?"

"They will need a vessel for the spirit to inhabit."

"But that would mean..."

"Yes...

The rest of the rhyme his grandma taught him creeped in and Link shuddered.

If Wisdom fails and Courage wanes,
into the land will Shadow creep,
Shattering Woods, tainting water,
It readies the unbelievers for the slaughter.
Evil stilled long ago, will return to you
As you die helpless before the Shadow

Link looked at Saimon who sat dejected on top of his pack, now he had a whole new set of problems on his hands, how to get a message to Tetra and how to find Al before the Shadow's influence became too great to resist. Link thought this over but he was still missing a few pieces.

"Al said the trap focused on the person's need for revenge, what was it that happened to him to make him want retribution?"

Again Saimon paused as if trying to find the right way to say it. What he said next took Link completely by surprise, "They took his memories from him."

But why Link wondered, then he asked, "Who are 'they'?"

"The Gods of Air, Wind and Water."

Link looked out at the water and caught sight of a shadow dancing on the moonlit waves. The King of Red Lions had returned. Link smiled, silently thanked the goddesses, as he pondered where he would have to go next. So many choices, so little time.

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