Dish Best Served - Prologue

I'm guessing you've heard the tales? The countless stories of the Triforce and those who bore its three parts? I bet you have, But I bet you don't know of their newest story. Why not? Well, it only just recently happened... I bet you're wondering how that's possible, they haven't appeared in our history for a couple millennia now. But perhaps you don't know the whole story. Previously, the Princess and the Hero found a way to strengthen the seal keeping the Evil King locked away, locked away until now. How do I know all this? Well you can see that I am a Great Fairy, and through my fairy children I am able to see a great many things... Our tale begins on a dreary evening, a Hylian mother cradled her young child in her arms as she watched the breaking news. A tragedy has struck the royal family, their summer home had caught fire, with them still inside.

“This just in, we have confirmation that there was indeed one casualty.” The hardy reporter stood in front of the burning mansion. If he hadn't been a Goron, the heat from the fire would make him sweat, but his sweat was from the panic of the situation. “The fire does not appear to have happened by accident, authorities believe this to be the work of an arsonist but as the fire is still burning too badly, there is right now no way to identify a point of origin to confirm this theory.”

“Have police revealed the identity of the deceased?” And anchor back at the station asked.

“No, not at this time. They are either unsure as to the identity of the victim, or are unwilling to reveal the information. The royal family members who have escaped the inferno were already been rushed away from us before we could ask questions, and the few servants we could talk to either didn't speak the common language, or were unwilling to talk to us.”

The child in the woman's arms fussed, as if upset by the events on the television. The woman rocked her gently and caressed the child's red hair, shushing quietly. “Don't worry, baby... Mama's gonna protect you...”

“What of the mass hysteria that was reported?” the anchor at the station asked. “We were told that the firemen were experiencing some sort of delusion within the fire?”

“That is a very interesting point, Zoe. You see, the police are keeping quiet about the details, but the cries from the firemen as they run out of the building are quite hard to ignore. Their cries proclaim that there are monsters inside the building.”

“Monsters? How unusual...”

The child fussed some more, the mother held out her finger for the child to grasp it; on the back of the child's hand was a triangle-shaped birthmark.

The next day, a Hylian boy was born with a similar marking. A pregnant woman was rushed into a delivery room by a team of nurses. The female doctor in the delivery room guided them through transferring the woman from the gurney to the birthing table and set preparations.

“Forget about what I said about having a natural birth!” The mother grabbed fiercely onto a male nurse. “Give me the drugs! Now!”

The nurse, a little scared by the woman's frightening demeanor of the moment, pushed her head back down on the pillow and another nurse handed her a muscle relaxer and a Dixie cup full of water, helping her take them down.

“I can see the head!” the doctor proclaimed. “C'mon now! Push!”

“Don't tell me what to do! I'm pushin'! I'm pushin'!” the mother screamed.

When the child finally emerged, it let out a loud wail. “It's a boy!” The doctor proclaimed.

The doctor cut the umbilical cord and handed the child to one of the nurses; who turned to a table where she could clean the child.

“How are you doing, Mrs. Chronon?” The doctor asked; another nurse wiped the mother's forehead.

“Is it finally over?! Where's my baby?”

“The nurse is cleaning him now, you'll be able to hold him in a minute.”

“Doctor!” The nurse cried. “I think you should take a look at this birthmark!”

The doctor rushed over to the nurse, looking at the child, perplexed, “What do you make of it, doctor?”

The doctor let the child's small hand rest on her finger, “Hmmm... Let's just finish the delivery as normal. We can have this looked at later, it doesn't appear life-threatening. Just unusual.”

The mother shifted around, panicking, “What's going on?! Is my baby okay?!”

The doctor turned back to the mother, “Oh yes, ma'am. The child is fine. He's very strong and healthy. He just has a little bit of an unusual birthmark is all. Nothing to worry about.”

“What kind of birthmark?” the mother asked.

The doctor scratched her chin, “It's a... triangle. But it doesn't look natural, it looks... call me crazy... like the sacred one from the ancient religions...”

Meanwhile, deep inside the woods, there was a small clearing where the Deku Tree still retained some magic and stood in quiet solitude. He awoke. “My fairy friends. Come to me...”

A crowd of fairies, all balls of light, flew out of the Deku Tree’s branches and assembled before him. “After three thousand years, he hath been reborn again. Tael, Navi, Tatl, Ciela, Spryte. Go to him, protect him and guide him with thy magics.”

“Yes, Great Deku Tree.” Tatl flew up first and stood as a representative of the five chosen; they all bowed.

An hour or so later, the nursery was crowded, filled with many babies. The boy's father and grandmother came to the window to find him, the nurse pushed him towards them so they could get a better look.

The mother turned to the grandmother, "The doctor said he was very healthy, astoundingly healthy. But that he had bit of an unusual birthmark..."

"You mean the Sacred Triangle mark on his left hand there...?" The grandmother pointed to the boy's raised hand as he squirmed, the marking was yellow and seen clearly.

"Y-yeah."

The grandmother smiled, "You should be proud...! That birthmark is a symbol of strength on our side. Every boy who has had that mark in our family history has become a hero."

The father sweat-dropped, "So this is the 'fairy tale nonsense' your daughter's always complaining about..."

The grandmother brushed the parents off, waving at the child, "It is not nonsense! ...Anyway, what DID you plan to name the child....?"

"We were going to name him Michael." The mother said firmly.

The grandmother turned back to them, "I think you should name him Link."

The mother sighed, "We're naming him Michael."

"Well call him whatever you like... I'm going to call him Link." She began cooing at the baby. He scratched his head.

* * *

Five years later, the child had grown into a bright, curious young boy. His grandmother won out the argument in the end and he was named Link. He had grown up in Aboda Town, a small, barely-on-the-map town where his family owned a dojo which had a large yard with several trees. The trees had few leaves at the moment though, since it was well into the fall.

Link fell onto his back and stared up at the clear, blue sky above his family’s broad back yard, the sun flickering through the branches speckled lightly with dead leaves. He was enjoying the beautiful autumn day and playing with Tael, Navi, Tatl, Spryte and Ciela. He was wearing a two-toned blue long sleeve shirt and khaki pants. Despite his mother’s warnings that he’d catch cold, his coat was lying on the ground. His blond hair fell a little into his right eye and flopped around his face. “So...” he asked. “Why do the five of you follow me wherever I go, anyway?”

Ciela dodged a leaf from hitting her and picked it up, “We were sent to you by the Great Deku Tree! He knew your birth was prophesied and sent us to protect you from would-be assassins.”

“What? Why? Why would someone want to kill me?”

“You bear the markings of Hyrule’s greatest hero!” Navi darted about

“Oh. You mean that guy from the fairy tales that I was named after...?”

“You’re not just named after him,” Spryte said. “The prophecy suggests that you are him!”

Inside the house, Link’s mother was watching him through the kitchen window while she did the dishes in a white smock. She sighed and turned to a neighbor friend who was sitting at the kitchen table. The kitchen was a typical modern-country kitchen with bright yellow wallpaper and stained wood cabinets and modern appliances. “(Sigh)... He’s talking to those fairy friends of his again. I’m afraid all that probing and analyzing those doctors and priests and scholars did to him as a baby is starting to take an ill effect on his psyche...”

“Oh, it’s just a phase he’s going through right now, trust me...!” The friend was a jolly woman, probably ten to fifteen years older with dark skin and red hair. She was wearing a sweater set and slacks. “My little ones went through that very same imaginary friend phase when they were his age; he’ll grow out of it once he starts making friends.”

“(Sigh). That’s what I thought too, at first. That’s why I introduced him to the mayor’s daughter and the boy from that family that just moved in a couple blocks down... But it seems to be having little to no effect.”

“Hm. There have been more and more Kokiri moving back to this area hasn’t there...? Didn’t their homeland use to be around here...?”

“Yeah, and there’s some political dispute about ownership to the land, but at least they aren’t driving out the people who already live here. I think what they really want is to go back to living in the forest, but the government says that it would cause tax problems and they would no longer have rights as citizens...”

“How sad...”

The doorbell rang, she let the dish she had been scrubbing slip back into the sink and pulled the large, yellow rubber gloves off her hands, turning to the friend, “Excuse me while I go answer that?”

“Of course.”

She walked out of the kitchen and through the living room into the simple entry hall with wood paneling and answered the door; Saria stood on the doorstep with a bright smile on her face, wearing a yellow sweater and a white miniskirt. “Hello Mrs. Chronon! Is Link home?”

Mrs. Chronon smiled, “Yes he is. He’s playing in the back yard. Won’t you come in?” She stepped to the side to give Saria a path.

“Thank you, Mrs. Chronon!”

She ran through the kitchen and out into the back yard, where she found Link now lying on his back in a pile of leaves, staring up at the sky. “Hey, Link! How are you and your fairy friends doing today?”

Link popped up, his face turning a little pink, and looked around him. When he saw Saria, he turned away and rubbed the inside of his shirt collar over his mouth to remove the dirt, “H-hello, Saria... I’m doing fine, but they keep telling me these stories about how I’m supposed to be some kind of hero...”

“Link the hero, huh?” Saria giggled. “I don’t know... It does have kind of a nice ring to it...”

Link smiled, his face still pink, he was glad to have such a kind and pretty friend who believed his story.

“Stop encouraging that crazy talk of his, Saria!” Mido shouted, jumping over the plaster wall surrounding the yard. He was wearing a red jacket over a black t-shirt and blue jeans. “You know all the adults are gossiping about the little boy who thinks he can talk to fairies~!”

Link glared, “Why can’t you use the door like everybody else, Mido?! You know it’s disrespectful to enter a dojo over the wall like that... Especially since you’re a student here...”

“Make me! Beeee-dah!” Mido stuck out his tongue and pulled down his lower eyelid.

Link growled, but turned to Saria and smiled, heading towards the door, “Hey, Saria, you wanna go up to my room and play some Pikmin?”

“Okay! Sure!”

Link opened the door for her and let her go in first. Mido steamed, “Hey! We’re not finished here yet!”

Link turned to him, “My dad says it’s not right to pick on those weaker than you. Since you seem to have no respect for this dojo, you can find your own way out.” He went inside.

“Grrr...! How dare you!!!” Mido screamed at the door.

“Mido?” Mrs. Chronon poked her head through the window. “Are you all right?”

Mido sweat-dropped and waved his hands in front of his face, “Eh, no problem, Mrs. C!”

Up in Link’s room, it was a typical boy’s room with light blue walls, twin-sized bed, desk and television with a GameCube. Saria turned the GameCube on while Link looked out the window, looking at the spot where the three of them had stood.

He cracked a sort of half smile, “Wouldn’t it be funny if it were true though?”

“Huh?” Saria turned to him, pausing the game.

“You know... If I really was that guy?”

She giggled, “Then I guess I’d be the best friend of a legendary hero...!”

“Heh,” he blushed. “Too bad it’s all just a story...”

“Well, you never know...!”

“Hm.” He turned around and grabbed the other controller and plopped down on the bed with Saria. “Anyway, let’s play!”

Later that day, Tatl, Tael, Navi, Spryte and Ciela flew up before the Deku Tree, “You summoned us, Great Deku Tree?” Spryte asked.

“Yes. The five of you hath reported to me that thy presence and interaction with the young hero hath created quite a stir amongst those in his daily life. Therefore, I have decided that I shall turn one of ye into a human in order to give him guidance, the other four shall continue to watch over him, hidden from his sight.”

“W-which one of us will you choose?” Tael asked.

The Deku Tree gave the decision careful consideration, “...Navi. Ye are the wisest and the young hero readily listens to thy advice. I shall grant thee a human body.”

A green light enveloped Navi and sunk to the ground. The light grew and when it faded, Navi had transformed into a six year old girl with ash blonde hair in a pixie cut with blue highlights.

“Now. Ye will need some clothes. Friends? Please create some clothes for Navi that are appropriate for her age and this era.”

The other fairies, and a few others that flew out of the Deku Tree’s branches, gathered around Navi and enveloped her in a soft, white light. When it disappeared, Navi was wearing a blue screen tee with a black and white vest with ruffles and a jean miniskirt over white leggings.

“Retrieve one of those ‘cell phone’ devices. We shall make arrangements for thy enrollment in the young hero’s school!”