A Party to Remember (Tsu/UNLM)

It was a strange feeling going back to the Kokiri Forest. It had been a total of forty three years since Kinoso had stepped out of the forest. How were the other Kokiri going to act? How was the Great Deku Tree going to act? In those forty three years, Kinoso had become akin to a monster in Kokiri eyes. Not many Kokiri have endured a crushing desire to end life. Questions raced around Kinoso's head. Hundreds of possible answers met each question, and more questions came from each possible answer. He questioned the job that the Kokiri ambassador in Hyrule Castle Town presented before him.

"Fifty rupees to kill a certain person. When the time comes, the target will be revealed," was all the useful information the ambassador gave him. It was so cryptic, but that never bothered Kinoso before. Jobs in general had never bothered him before until a week ago.

The question he asked himself more than any other question, however, was whether he was going to see Keiliegh again. As much as he may have thought of her as a bubbly, annoying girl, he couldn't ignore the rush of blood when he thought about seeing her in the forest. As much as he thought that their personalities differed, he had to admit that she was his first friend in a long time.

Kinoso traveled south from Hyrule Castle Town and into the large fields. These places had not seen the harshness of war, not yet at least. Birds were chirping; bugs were buzzing about; the grass was still green; life was still bountiful. It took three days of traveling to reach the secret tunnel that the ambassador had told Kinoso about. The ambassador used it to safely travel between the Kokiri forest and Hyrule Castle Town and to avoid Ganon's host of evil. It was small, barely large enough to fit the whole cart, and it made the claustrophobic horse feel uncomfortable. But after half a day of traveling through the tunnel, they emerged from the other side.

It was here that the war had taken its toll on the land. A small patch of grass was a rare sight, let alone any living thing. Even creatures that slowly consumed the dead were missing from the land. The aura seemed so cold and lifeless that Kinoso felt like some of his own life was being sucked from his own body. Since the Kokiri boy had last departed from the forest, he had not since seen South Hyrule. It was so much more lush back then. Kinoso even remembered passing by a village on his way to Death Mountain forty three years ago. On his journey the day before the current one, the whole village's life had been snuffed out. All in all, though, it brought no strong emotions from the boy. Kinoso had only heard stories of Ganon ruthlessly wiping out villages, but now that he had seen the damage up close, he found that he cared as much as he did before seeing the burnt village: not at all. Things die, was the only conclusion he had as he passed by the village.

It wasn't long until he started seeing the outskirts of the Kokiri forest. It was magnificently untouched. The life around the forest was absent, but the forest itself still had the trees and the animals. It was obviously the Great Deku Tree's magic. There was simply no other way to explain it. When the cart entered through a small opening in the forest, Le'ip gasped. "It's like nothing changed!" she exclaimed as a small bird flew past her. Flowers were blooming everywhere. The forest was truly as beautiful as it had ever been.

"Huh," was his way of agreeing with her, although his mind had been preoccupied with questions. The cart passed by underneath a fruit tree, and a branch full of fruit hung just above Kinoso. He reached upward, grabbed a fruit, and bit into the soft, sweet flesh. He savored the taste, as fruit this fresh was rare in Hyrule Castle Town.

He felt eyes follow him soon after he took a bite from the fruit. He felt the strong presence of two people watching him from the trees. He pretended not to notice them and would reach into the back of his cart every once in a while to catch a glimpse of whoever was watching him. His peripheral vision then caught one boy in plain sight on a branch. That was all Kinoso needed to guess that the kokiri was lining up for a shot with his slingshot. Kinoso responded by throwing what was left of his half eaten fruit at the boy, and its trajectory caught the boy off guard, which caused him to fall from the branch. A scream from above caught his attention next. Another kokiri with a sword in hand tried to cut him down using the momentum from a fifteen foot drop. It would have been a true strike had Kinoso not moved out of the way. Kinoso also grabbed the boy's sword arm and used it to swing the boy into the driver seat. A split second later, Kinoso stood over the attacking kokiri and pressed the his own sword against his throat.

Le'ip finally realized what was going on. "Kino! What are you doing?" she yelled.

The boy started giggling, "Wow, the ambassador said that you'd be really strong! I had to see for myself!" He tried to move the sword away from his neck, but Kinoso wouldn't budge.

"Your friend who tried to shoot me before has his slingshot on me. I can feel it," said Kinoso coldly, "Call him off, or you won't have a chance to say goodbye to your throat." To prove his point, Kinoso pressed the blade a little harder into the boy's throat.

The boy smiled uneasily, now just realizing that he was talking to someone who had no qualms with killing a kokiri. "Uh, Lami," the kokiri yelled while sweat started coming down his head, "it's okay! It's the one that the ambassador sent us!" Kinoso followed the boy's eyes and saw the boy in the distance lower his slingshot.

Once the situation diffused, Le'ip squealed with joy, "Tado, it's been too long!" Their fairy companions came out to greet Le'ip, and they celebrated their reunion with many annoying laughs and friendly banter. Lami joined up with Kinoso and Tado and tried to do the same as Le'ip, but Kinoso kept his silence as he drove the horse towards the village.

Keiliegh rolled in bed for the billionth time today. "What is it, three?" She asked her fairy. 

"In the afternoon, yes. When you're not told to do something, you sure are one lazy bitch."

"Aw, shuddup... Not like there's anything to do today. Like yesterday. And the day before. I need a hobby. Or a boyfriend." She said, laughing at that herself.

"A boyfriend you say? Why not go ask your psycho axe murderer buddy? I'm sure he'll take you to all sorts of romantic places, like...An alley. A morgue. Graveyard. Probably in that order."

Keiliegh shook her head, grabbing a book and lobbing it at her fairy, but those buggers move fast. It dodged easily, but perked up at a noise outside. "Someone's calling you."

"Huh?" Listening carefully, she indeed heard her name being called by a female voice. "Come on up! I'm lazy today..." 

After a few seconds, the girl walked into Keiliegh's house. It was Fenia, someone Keiliegh wasn't all THAT familiar with, but she certainly knew the girl. One thing that Stood out to her in the past was that Fenia's breasts had grown a bit bigger than Keiliegh's. This brought some of the guy's attentions to her, but she was still a kokiri. "What's up, Fenia?"

She leaned against Keiliegh's dresser smiling. "There's a bush party tonight, and I'm inviting you." 

Keiliegh beamed at this. Bush parties were awesome. The kokiri left their fairies at home for the night and went out a little bit into the forest where they'd play all sorts of games. It was actually a bush party where Keiliegh had first dropped fermented deku seed acid. The fairies were left behind for the purpose of nagging free fun, and the fairies would probably use the information to heckle for a long time. "Oh, I'll come for sure! When's it starting?"

"Around midnight. Meet me by the gate and we'll head out to it. See you then, Keiliegh!" With a wave of her hand, Fenia left the house, and Keiliegh jumped out of bed to get ready. 

"Sweeeeeet~! Finally something to do!"

The rest of the ride was painful. While Le'ip and the other fairies were catching up on the latest Kokiri news and gossiping, the two Kokiri who attacked him earlier, Tado and Lami, were firing off questions repeatedly, to which Kinoso only answered with at most two words.

"Can I touch your sword?"

"No."

"Can I see your dagger?"

"No."

"How long were you gone for?"

"Don't know."

"How did you get to be so strong?"

"Practice."

The questions kept coming. Kinoso did not remember these boys, but if he had, they would have been a plausible reason for his leaving. Lami and Tado seemed to remember Kinoso a little bit, but he had no recollection of them, and he was beginning to wonder if the other Kokiri were as annoying as these two. Despite the banter, the horse simply trudged forth. Meanwhile in back, Le'ip was recounting the tale of her travels to find Kinoso.

"Oh look, we're here!" cried Tado, pointing forth at a clearing up ahead in the small path. When the horse passed into the clearing, Kinoso was showered in sunlight and dumbstruck stares. Every Kokiri stopped what he or she was doing to stare at the newcomer, or rather, at the returned Kokiri, and they started to gather around the cart. Whispers were flying about from each other. Soon, other Kokiri poked their heads out from their windows and joined in the fray. If anything, though, this attention made Kinoso feel a bit uncomfortable. Normally, he was used to people in the streets ignoring him because he looked like a street urchin, and he worked very hard to retain his anonymity. Unless he was trying to kill or capture someone, having at least six pairs of eyes on him made him fidget and want to leave.

Lami and Tado stood up and presented the Kokiri who had just returned to his home, "I present to you, Kinoso!"

The crowd's murmuring grew in volume. Lami and Tado jumped off and ran to a girl in the front of the crowd. Kinoso's eyes and hers met. Tado whispered something in her ear that made her smile at Kinoso. "He's cute too," said the girl softly. Not wanting anymore attention, he drove his horse forward, and the crowd parted for him.

Keiligh unfortunately missed Kinoso’s grand entrance. She looked out the window before her bath and saw someone coming in, but didn’t deem it important. She could just ask someone about it later. Till then she closed her window, putting her head into the water first to wet her hair before starting her bath.

About twenty minutes later, she got out, making a small dinner for herself. Leronah then flitted out, surprisingly slowly. “Keiliegh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this bush party.”

Keiliegh finished chewing the food in her mouth and swallowed. “You always have bad feelings about them.”

“Keiliegh, last time you went to one of these you were brought back here convulsing.”

She waved the fairy off. “Pfft, I was fine! I’m sure everything will be okay you worrywart.”

No one left Kinoso alone. Maybe forty three years ago, when he was just another Kokiri boy, he would have enjoyed the attention. But that was a different person entirely. Now he just wished that they would all go away. The boys in the village eventually left him alone, but the girls stayed there, watching him put up his tarp on the cart. Strangely, even though Kinoso was back in the place where he was born, he still felt more at home in his cart. He climbed into his cart, hoping his being out of sight would give him some breathing space.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" a girl said.

Damnit, just when I was about to take a nap. "I had a long trip. Can this wait?" he replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I would say it could, but I'm the one who hired you." That caught his attention.

Kinoso withdrew his head from underneath the tarp and saw that there were other Kokiri behind the girl, the one that Lami and Tado were whispering to. "Fine," he resigned, "But the other girls have to go."

The girl shooed them off, and they obediently dispersed back to their normal routine. Whoever this girl was, she was certainly the charismatic type. "I'm Fenia," she extended her hand.

Kinoso completely ignored the hand, "I take it you were the one who sent the two boys to attack me."

Fenia understood his cold reaction to her greeting and retracted her hand back, "I'm sorry about that. I needed to know if you were the right person for this job. But rest assured, you didn't disappoint!"

"I hope you realize that you were playing a dangerous game. I was very close to slitting Tado's throat," he retorted.

"But you showed that your services will be worth the fifty rupees I'm paying," she held up a small bag of ten blue rupees in it.

"You're not going to ask Kino to kill another Kokiri are you?" asked Le'ip, knowing that this would be a step backwards from the Kinoso's childlike tendencies that she had been attempting to rekindle.

Fenia jiggled the bag around, "Would it be a problem if that was required?"

"Not at all, she doesn't speak for me," Kinoso shot Le'ip a dirty glare.

"Excellent," she got up to crawl out of the tarp, "I'm throwing a bush party tonight. You should stop by, it'll be a blast."

Keiliegh just passed time at home until eleven thirty, also known as sleeping. When she woke up she got dressed, saying goodbye to Leronah for the night as she left. Meeting Fenia at the gate, she saw two other Kokiri that she knew, Jenter and Helkin. Both boys looked ready to party, so the four of them set off into the woods.

“So how many people are gonna be here?” Keiliegh asked curiously. The guys seemed to be nervous, for some reason. Was it maybe their first bush party?

Fenia thought for a moment, counting in her head. “Probably a solid dozen or so, if they all come.”

Keiliegh nodded, continuing to walk with the others. It had been about five minutes when they started walking slower. “What’s going on? Are we here?” That was when she saw it. Helkin actually had a weapon. A glimmer from the blade of a knife reached the girl’s eyes, and suddenly red filled her vision. Pain erupted through her head as she fell to the ground, her whole body shaking. She saw two other Kokiri, Lami and Tado, walk from the shadows, one holding the rock she’d just been clubbed with.

“Stupid narcissistic bitch.” Fenia said, kicking Keiliegh hard across the face. She was definitely crying now, blood coming from two spots on her head, from the kick and the rock. Her vision was blurred too, but she felt someone pick her up, punching her in the ribs and letting her fall away.

“You’ve always thought you were so much better than us, didn’t you?!” She heard a voice from one of the boys as he caught her mid fall by the collar. A ripping sound rang out as her shirt tore, but she didn’t care at this point. She was bleeding heavily, her nice blonde hair that she’d gotten all pretty for tonight was stained in crimson. More insults and comments came to the girl as they let her fall, and then proceeded to maul her some more. The shirt’s hole had widened a bit more, showing a massive bruise already obvious on her ribs from a kick that she swore broke something.

Picking Keiliegh up by the hair, only sobs and moans of pain escaping the girl’s mouth, Fenia smiled. “You’re lucky we don’t have it in us to kill you.” She then turned the victim’s head towards a tree. “Not so lucky we had enough money to hired someone to finish you off slowly. Kinoso, get out here.”

Kinoso… No…

Kinoso looked up at the stars, trying to ignore the stares. Even after Fenia had shooed off the other Kokiri back to their other duties, there were always at least two Kokiri trying to catch a glimpse of him. At least none of them knew why he was there, or the occupation he chose to follow. He passed the time by lying on top of his cart, dozing the day away and waiting for instructions to come. Le'ip was nowhere to be found. She was probably off somewhere talking to her stupid fairy friends anyways. He was enjoying his time alone in the village. Some of the other Kokiri would occasionally try to speak to him, but his silence was his way of saying "don't bother me".

"Hey, Fenia needs you now," a voice whispered from the darkness of the forest. Since she was the one that hired the boy, Kinoso decided to strap on his gear and follow whoever called him. Kinoso's eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, but it was still hard for him to discern any specifics. He followed the dark figure through the thick woods, and it wasn't long before he spotted a small flame from a torch out in the distance.

Before they got too close, the who then revealed himself to be a boy, instructed him further, "All right, your target will be in the center. You just have to finish her off for us." An execution job. Those were simple, but they didn't pay that much. Still, fifty rupees was a lot for this sort of task. It was very possible that the Kokiri had overestimated the cost to take life away, something Kinoso had trouble trying to estimating himself anyway. Following the boy's instructions, he sat down and rested against a tree, waiting for his cue to come in, whatever it may be.

A ball of light floated toward him. Le'ip. "Hey, I saw you leaving your cart. Are you prepared for the hit?" she asked him.

"I wish I could call it a job. But it's actually an execution," he answered while thinking of the fifty rupee reward.

Le'ip hesitated for a while before finally speaking her mind, "Kinoso, I don't think it's right. I don't think you should execute another Kokiri."

In the distance, Kinoso heard a faint scream, and several seconds later, he heard, "Kinoso, get out here!"

"Tell that to the Kokiri who hired me," Kinoso got up to heed his source of income.

He walked to the gate of where the "party" was at and was dumbfounded by what he saw. Keiliegh, the only Kokiri friend he knew, was bloodied and beaten up; her shirt was torn almost in half. She muttered something incomprehensible, as she was still conscious. "Here's the deal," Fenia withdrew the wallet with fifty rupees, "none of us can do the dirty deed, so as soon as you finish her off, you get your fifty rupee reward."

Le'ip finally caught up with them and saw the bloodied girl in the center. When it dawned on the fairy that the bloody face belonged to Keiliegh, she screamed, "KEILIEGH!" She flew instantly to her side to help her feel better, "Please Kino, don't do this, for me! Please I'm begging you!"

"Helkin, get the fairy out of here," Fenia's face went from the sadistic smile to concern, "What are you waiting for, Kino? Kill her, and the money's yours!"

Helkin stepped forth to swat the fairy away, but Kinoso drew his longsword from its scabbard. The sound of the blade unsheathing stopped the boy dead in his tracks. He pointed the sword straight at Helkin, "Touch Le'ip, and that will be the last thing your hand will ever grasp."

Le'ip flew to Kinoso to plead to his undeveloped sense of decency again, "Please Kino, you are better than this!"

"Find Leronah," whispered Kinoso in deathly tone. When Le'ip floated around in response, he yelled, "NOOOWW!!" Le'ip obeyed her companion and left in a hurry.

Fenia chuckled and patted Kinoso on the shoulder, not fully aware of what Kinoso had just whispered to Le'ip, "I'm glad to see you come to your senses."

There are five of them, and we're far enough away from the village that no one heard Keiliegh's screams ....

Keiliegh's mind was in a haze, all she could really hear was Kinoso drawing his sword and Le'ip coming next to her. He'd killed moblins... Right now she was no challenge. She looked down to the ground, covering her face. 

"Wait, one more." Helkin chuckled to himself and brought his foot back, kicking Keiliegh and making a soft snap ring out, the girl then coughing up blood. That broke a rib for sure... Keiliegh was so confused. What did she do to deserve this? Beaten brutally and humiliated before being violently murdered?

Fenia walked over and rubbed Kinoso's shoulders sensually. "Look, just finish her off and we'll throw you a nice... Big... Party... Lots of food, drink, fun... And you get your money. Besides, it's not like anyone's going to miss this little bitch. For a century, we've put up with her thinking she's a damn princess just because she got her fairy early. She always puts herself first and doesn't give a fuck about anyone else. So as you can see, we're entirely justified in beating the hell out of her."

Helkin picked up Keiliegh by her bloodstained hair, making the injured girl squirm and whimper. "Fenia, I swear this guy's not as hardass as they say... This is an easy job and he's hesitating. Look, I'll hold her up here, just run her through."

Meanwhile, Leronah saw a familiar colour enter the village. "Le'ip? What are you doing here? Did you finally get tired of that murderer?"

Le'ip didn't want the other fairies to hear her, so she whispered quietly into Leronah's ear, "Follow me! Keiliegh's in trouble!" Then flew back in the direction she came from.

Meanwhile, Kinoso stared at the helpless bloody girl. Why is this so freaking difficult? he asked himself numerously. He had never hesitated for a job, especially a high paying execution job. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time he had to choose between money and a friend. Am I truly better than this? he was thinking of Le'ip's plead over and over again.

Then a sudden calm came over him. I AM better than this!

He ran towards Keiliegh, ready to stab her, when at the last moment, right before the golden juicy moment, he took an extra step past her and kicked Helkin in the side of the knee. I am better than this. Helkin cried out in pain and collapsed onto the floor, as his knee could no longer support half of his weight. To make him stay down, Kinoso plunged the dagger into the boy's hand and into the dirt, pinning Helkin painfully into the ground. "AAAHHH HELP ME!!" Quickly, before Fenia could run from the site, he drew a throwing knife and threw it at Fenia's foot, which hit the mark perfectly. The other Kokiri were finally reacting to what was going on. Lami picked up the rock that he had previously clubbed her with and charged at Kinoso. Of course, the boy was not very swift, and his weapon didn't have the reach that Kinoso's longsword did, so before he knew it, Lami saw a long blade plunged into the left thigh. Kinoso then struck him hard in the face with his face, and the pain took care of the rest of his consciousness.

I am better than this. The other two decided to attack Kinoso at once. Tado had a blade, the same one he used to attack Kinoso earlier. Using the same trick as before, Kinoso stepped forward, grabbed Tado's sword arm while he was still preparing for the swing, and then knocked the boy down. Jenter decided to tackle Kinoso from behind, but Kinoso sidestepped out of the way and watched the boy tumble onto the floor. While he still had Tado's arm controlled, Kinoso flipped Tado over so he was prone, placed Tado's hand on top of his shoulder, and then drove the short sword through both. For a finishing touch, Kinoso stepped on the protruding hilt hard enough to drive the rest of the sword into the ground. Jenter was panicking and backing away from the monstrous Kokiri. Kinoso charged at the boy and then yelled right in his face, causing the boy to faint from fright.

Fenia was desperately trying to get on her feet to get away, but a knife in her foot really hindered that goal. Kinoso simply picked her up by the collar and pinned her onto a tree. "Y-you-you're a monster," she said.

"Tell that to the girl you beat up," he punched her in the gut.

"She thinks she's above everybody else, and she treats people like that, when she's actually nobody!" Fenia retorted at the pain. Blood was starting to drip from her mouth.

Kinoso laughed and drew out another throwing knife, "Funny how that sounds coming out of your mouth. At least she wasn't the one who beat you up." He raised her hand up and dug the knife through her hand and into the tree. Fenia screamed in pain and for help. He covered up her mouth, "You brought Keiliegh over to a place where no one could hear her in case she screamed for help. Let me know how that turns out.

He picked up Keiliegh, but just as he was about to make a run for his cart, Le'ip showed up. "We gotta get outta here, or Keiliegh's wounds are going to be the death of her."

Keiliegh shook away from Kino as he tried to pick her up, as she didn’t know who it even was. “N-no…” She muttered out, blood getting in her eyes.

“You could have just killed her and it would have all been fine… some assassin you are…” Fenia reached up, pulling the knife from her hand with a sickening squelch. “That girl doesn’t deserve to live…” With a reach into her back pocket, she threw a deku seed right at Kinoso’s face, blinding him while Fenia started making her escape.

Keiliegh, on the other hand, started coming to her senses. She looked up at Kinoso, her vision still blurry. “K-Kino…?”

“What the fuck did you do to her, you monster?!” Leronah darted into the boy’s face accusingly, actually hitting him. “I warned her about you! I did!”

Kinoso simply swatted the annoying fairy away. It was one thing to let Fenia get away, it was another to have Leronah accuse him of murder. Still, he needed to get Keiliegh to some place where she could be healed. At least she was slightly conscious.

Le'ip hesitated, but she finally chimed in her opinion, "Kino, she has a better chance of living if you try to treat her here and just wait for help to arrive."

Kinoso sighed, "That's great, but how am I supposed to do that?" He looked around for anything that would substitute as a bandage for her wounds. Other than that, he didn't know the slightest thing about medicine.

"It's fine, I'll walk you through some of it. Set her on the ground and then turn her onto her side," Le'ip instructed. Kinoso did just that and watched a pool of blood drain from her mouth. Keiliegh's eyes were slightly open. It was a good sign; she was still conscious and breathing. Kinoso was very concerned, on the other hand, seeing a lot of blood pour from her mouth. "All right, that should be enough blood drained from her mouth, you can put her on her back again," said Le'ip.

Kinoso did just that, "Now what?"

"Now, breathe into her mouth," Le'ip knew she was bleeding, but the broken ribs inside her chest were becoming hindrances on her breathing.

Kinoso looked at her confused, "Uh, say what now?"

Le'ip was at the end of her patience, "PINCH HER NOSE AND BLOW AIR INTO HER MOUTH!!"

Kinoso didn't question her again.

With tears in her eyes, Keiliegh laid as Kinoso moved her, the girl being far too exhausted to do it herself. Her mouth was drained of blood, though her chest still screamed in pain and her head still spun. She had a concussion for sure. 

The kokiri wanted to hug Kinoso so bad right now... He'd saved her life, though she definitely wanted to talk to him about it later. When Keiliegh gave him mouth to mouth, some of the pressure was alleviated from her chest, though it likely wouldn't last long until it hurt again. 

Helkin had managed to dazedly get up, stumbling before taking his knife and throwing it at the two reunited kokiri. "D-die!"

When Kinoso heard "D-die!" from Helkin, the throwing knife was already spinning in mid-air, heading in their direction. Thinking quickly, Kinoso threw out his arm to block the incoming the knife, and taking the cut as a small sacrifice, he had just saved Keiliegh's life again. Poor Helkin had poured all of his strength into the attack, and he was significantly weakened already, so the knife punctured Kinoso's skin a bit, but the attempt was so weak that it was no more than a small flesh wound. Helkin collapsed right after the attack, focusing back onto the pain in his hand.

The pain was noticeable, but minimal. Instead of making sure Helkin stayed down, Kinoso turned his attention back to Keiliegh. "Hey, aren't we going to bandage up Keiliegh anytime soon?" said Kinoso, staring at the uncontrolled bleeding from her head and various limbs.

"She's still not breathing right you idiot! She'll die sooner if you don't control her breathing!" yelled Le'ip. She wasn't particularly frustrated with Kinoso's questioning her, but rather the whole situation they were in. Kinoso went back to giving Keiliegh mouth to mouth. Without Kinoso assisting her inhalations, her own breathing was sporadic and too slow. Considering the fact that her ribcage would hurt from the forceful inflation, it was a necessary measure to make sure she was still alive.

The night air was full of screams from the Kokiri boys. At least their breathing was not compromised unlike Keiliegh's. But amidst their screams and cries for help, Kinoso and Le'ip heard voices coming their way. "I think I heard screams this way!" "The missing Kokiri are there!" "Let's hurry!" This came as a relief to them, but not for long ...

Keiliegh didn’t change much, allowing Kinoso to try to heal her. Leronah, on the other hand, flew out to meet the other Kokiri. “Alright, everyone, you’re about to see a fun scene. But don’t flip shit, just stay calm. I don’t think anyone except maybe Keiliegh is dead, and as much as a hate to say it about the psycho punk, it was Fenia at fault.”

“Why should we believe you?” A kokiri said to her.

“Because you kids are all stupid and can’t use common sense to save your lives. Plus, why else would he be trying to save Keiliegh now?” Just go in and bring the girl back to the village before she bleeds out.”

A few untrusting grumbles rang out from the crowd, but one stepped out. “Alright, Leronah… But we tie Kinoso’s arms. We won’t let him hurt anyone else.”

“Pfft, as if I care. Just save Keiliegh and you’re good by me.” The fairy then drifted back over to Kinoso before the Kokiri could get to him. “I suggest doing what they say.”

The Kokiri tied up Kinoso's arms behind his back, another two held onto his arms, and another two had swords pointed at him. The other Kokiri divided amongst each other to carry each of the injured ones back to the village. Fenia was still nowhere to be found. There were whispers traveling through the crowd, and judging by the numerous stares in his direction, Kinoso could tell that he was the center of their discreet conversations. He could hear distinct words such as "monster", "murderer", and "ruthless" being used to describe him. What fate was in store for a ruthless, murderous monster? Who knew ...

For now, his fate was to be thrown into their holding cell, which was no more than a small room carved into a small tree with no more than a hole in one side for excremental needs and a small pile of leaves which served as a bed. Le'ip flew into the room from a window above the toilet hole, "Whatever happens, Kino, I'm proud of you."

"With the way the things are right now," he sighed and hesitated, "I'm dead." At best, he wanted to be banished. In fact, he just wanted to leave the village. It certainly was nothing like it used to be. His thoughts traveled to Fenia and her little henchmen of sorts. She was nowhere, and no matter what story Kinoso or Le'ip told, it was their story against five.

"Don't think like that, you know that there isn't a single Kokiri out there that could dream of taking someone's life away. You're too used to Hyrule Castle Town's justice. You'll just be banished," but even Le'ip could not say for sure. Certainly, much had changed in the past forty three years.

"For doing the right thing. I refused to kill Keiliegh, I didn't kill any of Fenia's little buggers, and I even stopped to save her from dying," he yelled, "I did the right thing, and look where I am now! I should have just killed her, taken the fifty rupees, and be done with it. This is what I get for being distracted."

"But why didn't you?" That was the question that stirred Kinoso's mind. He was already mad, but this one just confused him.

"Because ... I ... because she's my friend. Does that answer make any sense?" He was not satisfied with his answer. It did not make any sense to him.

But it did for Le'ip, "Of course it does. You're becoming less and less the ruthless killer you used to be, and becoming more and more the Kokiri you are."

Kinoso grumbled, "It doesn't change the fact that I'm still here."

Keiliegh was brought back to the village bloodied and bruised... But alive. She was laid down in her bed and a kokiri came up to her, starting to apply first aid. "O-ow... We don't have a.... healing Mage anymore? Lyra was.... Urg...  the only one we had? D-damn..."

Leronah then came up to her, landing on Keiliegh's shoulder. "No more fucking bush parties, we clear?" 

Keiliegh closed her eyes and leaned back her head. "O-okay... I'm sorry Leronah..."

The fairy's voice softened. "Alright... Get some rest dummy... People are going to be asking you what happened when you get up."

Keiliegh's voice mumbled more and more as she drifted out. "Iunneven know what... Habbind..." Leronah then turned to the kokiri boy and drifted up to him. "Hey Sasem, any sign of Fenia?"

He looked up from his work on Keiliegh. "N-no... She must have run off. Don't worry though, there isn't really anywhere she can go."

"Dammit... The psycho boyfriend shoulda cut that bitch's head off."

The door creaked open, flooding sunlight onto Kinoso's body. It was certainly a better awakening than the one he received immediately after. He felt a boot kick him and then heard a commanding voice, a familiar one, "Get up. It's time for your trial." Mido. If there was a single person he could not forget about from the forest, it was Mido, that overly pompous, arrogant spawn between a chu chu and a deku baba, with the looks of the baba and the wit of the chu chu. In fact, Kinoso would be able to stand Fenia's bitchiness before he would be able to stand Mido's authoritative voice. "You should have never come here, scumbag," sneered Mido as two Kokiri lifted Kinoso off onto his feet by his cuffed arms.

"Do you make it a habit to make others feel as pitiful as you?" retorted the boy, "Or do you simply like saying things others already know?" It earned him a punch to the gut, but he knew that was the most Mido would ever do to him.

The day was as clear as yesterday was. For such a serious atmosphere, the animals' activities and sounds seemed out of place. The forest did not seem to mind his presence so much as the other Kokiris did. Kinoso kept in pace with the escorts. Since the word "professionalism" did not seem to exist in the Kokiri forest except for Mido's amateurish mind, he overheard his escorts' whispers and rumors about him and what had transcended the night before. Thankfully, none of these rumors were consistent, but the more he thought about the Kokiris' rumors, the more he began contemplating his position in their court system. If his trial and his prosecution was going to rest in a bunch of rumors, he was screwed. Then again, if it was based on witnessed accounts, then Kinoso's story would have to be weighed against four other stories, all of which were probably going to be one consistent lie to protect Fenia, in which case he was screwed.

The escorts led Kinoso into the thick of the forest, with nothing more than a small clearing to guide their path. The path then led into a small tunnel through a hill. It all seemed vaguely familiar. And then he realized where they were going and why. Kinoso had only gone to see the Great Deku Tree a few times, but each time he did, it had a lasting impression on him. Then he realized that the Kokiris were going to try to make the case to the Great Deku Tree. And all of his hopes were up in an instant. There was no way someone as wise as the Great Deku Tree would let such falsehoods fly past him. There was also no way the Great Deku Tree would allow his own creation to be destroyed. At the very most, he would be banished, and he wanted nothing more to leave this village.

And then he was pushed into a large clearing. Crowds of Kokiri children stared at Kinoso with various expressions: scared, disgusted, wonder. Kinoso ignored their stares and looked up at the magnificent tree standing in the middle of the forest clearing. The father of all Kokiri and the Kokiri forest always seemed to have an unmoving face, but everyone who knew the Great Deku Tree knew better. At that moment, everyone could feel his heavy sigh. They knew that he was not happy. Kinoso had never spoken to the Great Deku Tree directly before. Any news or information that the Great Deku Tree needed Kinoso to know would be relayed through Le'ip. For the first time, he truly felt the weight of the tree's presence resting on his shoulders.

Mido stepped forward to the tree. "Oh great father," he raised his arms in praise, like he was worshiping a god, "this Kokiri, who has deserted us, has been tainted by the outside world, and he returned to our forest to bring destruction to the Kokiri! Last night, he hurt five of us, and he sent our beloved Fenia running off into the woods!"

Keiliegh woke up, her body feeling much better, even if she was suffering from a woozy head. "You okay, Keiliegh?" Leronah asked, concern actually prominent in her voice. 

"Yeah Leronah... Just a bit dazed. What's going on now? Where's Kinoso? And Fenia? Oh jeez, that bitch Fenia. She'd better get exile. Or a century of weeding duty for the great deku tree at the very least."

"Kinoso is in a trial, actually. He's being blamed as the aggressor in all that happened. Fenia fled into the woods and hasn't been seen since."

"Trial?!" She immediately jumped up and sprinted towards the great deku tree. A minute later, she arrived to see Mido giving some speech and explanation of what happened. She angrily walked up and pushed his face, knocking him off balance. "No! Shut up, Mido. You weren't even THERE!" Mido would usually continue antagonizing Keiliegh, but he could her the fury in her eyes and backed off, allowing her to speak.

"Hi Great Deku Tree. I thought you may want to know what actually happened from someone who was actually there. The kokiri who were injured by Kinoso fully deserved what happened to them. I currently have a whole rainbow of stuff wrong with me from these so-called victims because they lured me into the woods around the village, tricked me away from my fairy... And attempted to murder me."

A hushed exchange of voices went between all the kokiri at this new information, but Keiliegh continued. "Kinoso did the right thing by intervening. If he hadn't, there wouldn't be five injured kokiri and one missing... It'd simply be one dead. Kinoso saved me because he's my friend, and I know that if he had been betrayed by his fellow villagers... I'd beat the shit out of them too." Subtle language wasn't one of her forte. "Don't just take it from me, Great Tree, the kokiri who's left the forest for you to save my fellow villagers... Who went inside you when the forest was in danger... Take it from Kinoso as well. He's here, and he has a voice, so let him explain himself."

So far the Great Deku Tree had remained quiet, still waiting untill all information had been presented. Keiliegh walked back to Kinoso, faking a smile. "You're up, Kino. You have no idea how much every part of my body hurts right now..."

It was Kinoso's turn to step up into the spotlight. Once again, all the eyes shifted onto him, but this time, he also felt the weight of the Great Deku Tree's attention onto him. This was also his first time he had ever been put on trial. The amount of attention he was getting was very unnerving, as he tried his best to hide in the shadows. "Um," was just about the only thing he could squeak out for a while, "She's right. I entered the scene after Keiliegh was already struck. I was supposed to be given 50 rupees to execute her, but I turned down the -"

"He's lying!" "He was getting paid to kill us all!" "He's a threat to this forest!" "He'll come after you Great Deku Tree!" were the general yells that interrupted his story. Please sentence me and then banish me, was Kinoso's only thought.

"Please be silent," said the Great Deku Tree in a quiet voice. The resulting silence was instant, for there was no arguing against the Great Deku Tree. After the Great Deku Tree was happy with the silence, he turned his attention back to Kinoso, "My child, continue your story."

"All right. I turned down the money. Le'ip was trying to convince me not to harm anyone, and quite honestly this was the first job I had ever turned down," and look how well that ended for him, "But I still went a bit crazy. Keiliegh's the first Kokiri friend I've had in a long time. For forty three years, I had lost all contacts with any Kokiri until I met Keiliegh not too long ago. Seeing her bloodied and beaten made me go nuts. I know I hurt other Kokiri, and if you're here to punish me for that, then so be it, but I didn't kill anyone, nor did I ever have to intention to!"

And now it was time to hear the opposing story. Jenter stepped up, "He's telling a blatant lie! And Keiliegh's lying to protect her friend! Kinoso was the one who beat her up like that! He wanted to kill her, but we were there to save her! That's why we got beaten up!"

Kinoso burst out in laughter. The image stuck in his mind was him screaming at Jenter, and Jenter's fainting as a result. "You? The five of you? Please! Jenter, the only reason why you were the only one who didn't get hurt was because I scared you until you fainted!" some of the Kokiri chuckled along to Kinoso's laugh as he told his story, to Jenter's dismay, "As for the rest of you four, you guys were garbage. You really think you protected me from Keiliegh? The truth is this, if wanted all of you dead, you would have been dead, and there would have been seven bodies to collect, and I would have been long gone! But you know why I am here, listening to your trash? Because I did the right thing! I stayed to save Keiliegh!"

"Don't listen to his Great Deku Tree! None of us are even capable as fighters, that's how he bested us!" pleaded Lami, kneeling in front of the Great Deku Tree and with tears in his eyes, "We were just having a nice bush party, away from all the fairies! Then Kinoso ambushed us! Just look at my wounds, they still hurt. Look at my wounds and know that I would not lie to you about them."

I suppose it's true, I did sort of take them by surprise thought Kinoso.

Keiliegh too, scoffed at Jenter's claim. "Jenter, you know me. If you scorn me, I don't do anything for you. Now... If someone did all this to me, why would I defend them? And I think the great tree can trust me more than you, of all people. Remember thirty years ago, that merchant caravan? The one that got turned away right away? Did you or didn't you buy out his entire stock of alcohol to try to sell under the radar?"

Jenter went red in rage. "Y-you bitch! You swore you wound never tell anyone!" 

Keiliegh spat at him. "Well you tried to kill me. All bets are off, asshole."

Jenter couldn't even focus anymore, so he faded back into the group. "Great Deku Tree! I've risked life and limb for this forest, and for you. Does that count for anything?! Kinoso isn't a bad person. Rough around the edges? Yes. A bit scary sometimes? Yes. But he has a heart of gold, as shown last night." She let out a powerful cough that rocked through her body, spitting up a bit of blood. "I need more rest than I've gotten, but I won't leave a good Kokiri to be punished unjustly. Ask the fairies. There's no way these five bastards hid murder conspiracy from their fairies for this long." She coughed once more, her chest throbbing in pain. She put a hand on Kinono's shoulder, talking gently in his ear. "Jeez... After this I need a rest... Thanks for saving me, Kino... No matter what happens, you and I know what happened."