Key Quest: Air and Fire by Judy Colella (first color ebook reader TXT) 📕

“Yes, the lullaby. Good. Well! Hoot hoot hoot hoot hoo!” And he flew away.

“Yeah, see you later,” he murmured. “Have a great day.”

“Are you being sarcastic, Link?”

He sighed. “Yes, Navi.”

“I see. We have to go now.”

“I suppose we do.”

“Are you afraid?”

“Yes, Navi, but don’t ask me why.”

“Maybe because you’re still only ten years old.” She sounded almost upset, but in a motherly kind of way, not in a disappointed manner.

“Maybe.” He wasn’t entirely sure he understood the point she was making, unless all ten-year-olds were naturally frightened by big things. Like mountains. Or things that had the word “death” in them.

The exit from the Woods was easy enough to find. In fact, if he turned a certain way in one of the hubs between paths, he’d find himself back in the Village. Only he wasn’t really looking to leave yet. He’d remembered another individual, one not unlike the two flute-players. He, too, had a flute, but looked younger, and quite frankly, very lonely.

Every Kokiri in the Village had not only met this strange boy, but had talked about him in less than glowing terms. He was, in fact, disliked more than Link was, but everyone seemed a little afraid of him. They called him the Skull Kid, but no one ever said why or where that description had come from.

He looked to Link like a rag doll, actually. His face didn’t have skin but some kind of dark, uneven covering. His eyes, too, were not like anyone else’s and almost didn’t look real; still, that fact hadn’t hidden the sadness Link saw there every time he’d encountered him.

Once or twice Link had tried to strike up a conversation, but instead of a verbal response, things had been thrown at him, or zinged at his head from a sling-shot. What would happen if instead of talking, Link played the ocarina? Not that winning this odd individual’s confidence had always been at the top of his list of things to do, but it had been on his list somewhere. Maybe because he knew what it felt like to be lonely, sad, and disliked.

A little more walking brought him to one of the many open areas within the Woods that seemed to have no purpose. This one had a single dead tree stump near the middle, and little else. Yet here it was that the Skull Kid seemed to spend his days. Link entered the area carefully, not sure if the boy would immediately start throwing things, or wait until he tried to talk to him.

There he was, standing on the stump, hopping from foot to foot in a kind of dance, moving to music only he could hear.

Link stopped several yards in front of him and took out his ocarina. Without hesitation – and because he thought it would be a good idea to play it again so he wouldn’t forget how it went – he began Saria’s lively song.

The Skull Kid stopped hopping long enough to stare in what looked like shock, then began dancing again, this time to the song. Before Link had gotten to the repeated part, the other boy took out his flute and began playing along.

When he was finished, Link lowered the ocarina and waited.

The boy jumped up and down with excitement, exclaiming, “You know Saria’s song! That – oh, my! That means…we should be friends! Here – take this!” He tossed something toward Link, but this time, it was a good thing – one of the large heart-fruits.

Link leaped forward in time to catch it before it hit the ground. “Thank you!”

The Skull Kid shrugged and went back to his bizarre, silent dance as if nothing major had occurred. Link knew otherwise – he’d caught a gleam of something not sad in the boy’s eyes, and knew he’d done the right thing.

As they left the area, Navi whispered, “That was very good of you, Link.”

“Thank you.” He blushed, embarrassed by the praise. He wasn’t used to it. In fact, he was so flustered, he didn’t pay attention to where he was going, and found himself in a part of the Woods he almost never bothered to go.

The ground through this opening ended at a ledge that looked out over the wooden bridge leading out of the Kokiri Forest – the one across which he’d fled a few days earlier. The drop to the ground below was only a few feet; he’d gone down there once, but a tingling of his senses that had caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise had sent him scrambling back up the ladder before he could actually explore the place. He had never returned, either.

Now, however, he’d fought and defeated Gohma, and a Wolfos, several chubby deku scrubs, living skeletons…what could possibly be down here that he couldn’t handle? Feeling brave, he hopped down and went forward, crossing under the bridge and up a slight rise in the ground. He topped this and turned –

Ploomp!

“Ouch!”

Ploomp! Thunk! Squeak!

Crazy Deku Scrub, Link thought, watching it carefully. Unlike the others he’d met, this one didn’t try hopping away, and was quite a bit taller. He stepped closer.

“I surrender!” it declared, raising twig-like arms. “I can make your quest easier!”

How did this thing know he was on a quest? “How?”

“Why, by making it possible for you to pick up larger numbers of deku sticks at a time!”

That sounded pretty good. “You can do that?”

“Yes, but it will cost you, of course.”

“What? How much?”

“Only forty rupees, my friend.”

“Okay, let me see if I understand what’s going on here.” Link crossed his arms. “People come down here out of curiosity. You shoot them. If they don’t get hurt or killed, and manage to hit you back, you do business with them. Do I have that right?”

“Pretty much, young sir!”

Link nodded. “You’re crazy. Still, I could probably use more sticks…” He reached into his gem pouch which was bulging by now, and took out the correct number of blue and red rupees to equal forty. “Here.”

Looking quite pleased, the Scrub took the rupees, then told Link to turn around. He did something with the boy’s scabbard and it became somewhat heavier.

“There you go – I’ve given you forty to start you off, and now your holder there can carry up to that many and still have room for your sword! By the way, is that the Kokiri Sword?”

“Um, yes.”

“Really! Now what would such a little boy be doing with something so grand, eh? But no matter – off you go, now! It was a pleasure doing business with you!” He nodded once and burrowed into the ground.

Link stared for several seconds at where the Scrub had been, then took a deep breath. “Right!” He had to adjust the scabbard by shifting his shoulders, but it occurred to him that having to carry more weight would probably make him stronger. “Let’s go, Navi. I’m tired and plan to get a bite to eat and some sleep before we head back to the mountain.”

“So you’re finally going there, are you?”

“Yes, Navi. I do believe I’m ready to try it.” He started walking toward the ladder, his expression one of determination, even though a small part of his mind was pushing for the run-away-as-far-and-as-fast-as-you-can option. He was going to do this.

Besides, he had a feeling that if he did try and run away from it, that stupid owl would show up again…

By the time Link entered Kakariko Village for the second time, it was night. He’d overslept, and hadn’t left his own village until well past noon. Then, taking his time, he’d crossed Hyrule Field, gone over the small stone bridge, sat on the edge of the river-moat to have a quick meal, and before he could make it halfway up the long stairway, the sun had gone down. He’d managed to avoid running into any Stalchildren this time, but didn’t want to take any chances, so had run the last few yards to the gate.

Now, staring about at the silent village, he wondered if heading up the mountain at night was such a hot idea. Besides, there had been a few things he’d wanted to check out in the village itself that he’d never gotten to the last time.

As he walked forward, he thought about the way he’d been able to “fly” holding onto the legs of the cuckoo. That would have been a fun pursuit, but there were none to be seen at this hour. Then he thought about the Graveyard. Was it too early again to go on that tour?

“Link!”

Oh, good grief. “What is it, Navi?”

“Where are you going?”

“The Graveyard.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, not bothering to answer. When he got to the entrance, he paused to cut some grass, thinking he should replenish some of the rupees he’d spent on his new deku-stick holder. When he’d undressed the night before, he’d seen what the Scrub had done – another sheath had been attached to the one containing the Sword, the two connected by small metal circles.

No rupees bounced out of the cut shafts. Something else though – bugs. He was okay with bugs. Spiders, not so much. He crouched down to look at them more closely. They were actually rather pretty, their chitinous shells an interesting combination of luminous blue and green stripes.

“Catch some in a bottle, Link.”

Was she serious? “Why would I do that?”

“You might need them.”

Navi’s statements, despite being often very cryptic, were always based on some kind of knowledge of things unfamiliar to Link, so he untied the empty bottle from his belt and coaxed several of the bugs inside, replacing the cap quickly and tying it down so they couldn’t escape.

He stood and headed into the Graveyard, determined this time to stay out of holes. The place was quiet and devoid of gravekeepers as far as he could see, so he went to Dampe’s shack. Sure enough, the sign was up indicating the hours of the tour, and making it clear that this wasn’t the right time.

“Dang.” Disappointed, Link stalked off, this time heading for the area on the other side of metal railing to see what was up there.

“Look at this, Link!” She was fluttering over a bald patch of dirt.

“Okay.” He joined her and stared at it. “That’s dirt, Navi.”

“But it’s different – very soft.”

How would she know? Had she landed on it when he wasn’t looking? “Is that important?”

“Listen! I hear scratching!”

He looked around.

“No, under the ground!”

A Stalchild, maybe? He backed away.

“Oh, Link! Let the bugs out!”

Now what was she on about? “I just caught them, Navi. You said – ”

“Let them out on the dirt!”

Wondering if maybe the poor fairy had flown into a wall and hit her little head, he shook his own, crouched down once more, and undid the cap. The bugs scurried out, skittering here and there, finally burrowing into the center of the patch.

“Back up, Link! Quick!”

He did , and not a moment too soon. A huge Gold Skultulla emerged from the patch, coming to a halt mere fractions of an inch from his right boot. Shocked, he hacked at it, and after its implosion, collected the medallion.

“How did you know about that?”

“I know