The fairies, one yellow and one purple, float near the black treetops. Their target is clearly visible; a young boy sitting on a horse, a bright contrast against the drab brown ground. The fairies give each other a quick nod and descend through the gray fog.

The boy, for his part, has a weary face and drooping eyes. He has been wearing his green tunic and hat for several weeks past, and even with all his time in the field, the sword and metal shield on his back is making him ache. He gives his horse a pat on the neck before stretching his arms out.

As the boy turns in his saddle, the fairies swoop down and right in front of the horse's face. A forceful bump on the nose from each fairy from is enough for the poor creature to whiny in fright. It raises itself upon its hind legs, and the boy falls off with a yelp.

The green-clad boy falls face down, unconscious. The fairies float over him as another figure approaches the scene.

The Skull Kid stands four feet high, dressed in bright orange and yellow clothing. Two thin brown arms extend forth, allowing the fairies to stand on the palms of the gloved hands. The Skull Kid's head is obscured by not just his large orange bonnet, but by the peculiar mask that he had obtained not two weeks ago.

The heart shaped piece is dominated by the colors of purple and red, and spikes protrude from each edge of the piece. In the center are two bright gold eyes that never fail to deliver a chill down the spine of each fairy.

A chuckle resonates from behind the mask. "Good job, my minions!" It is a young and immature voice, yet possessing an exaggeratedly deep tone; once again, as the fairies know, the Skull Kid is trying too hard to sound dark and menacing.

"Looks like he's on a journey," says the purple fairy from his perch on the Skull Kid's left palm. The yellow fairy turns to look at him. "Whatever gave you that impression, Tael?" Tael looks back at his sister. "Well...he was on a horse, Tatl. People travel on horses. He should have some cool things on him, right?"

The Skull Kid sighs and moves forward, leaving the two fairies to float in the air. The brown horse is calm, the Skull Kid sees. It just stares stupidly ahead with it's soft black eyes, perhaps not even knowing that it's young rider is lying down to its side. By now, the mask-wearing imp is one step in front of the boy.

The Skull Kid's vision is suddenly dominated by a green blur. The boy has jumped up, swinging his left arm from behind his shoulder to his midsection. The drawn sword slices directly through the Skull Kid's right arm at the elbow, but the imp does not make a sound. The boy shouts as he thrusts his sword forward. The Skull Kid is a scant one second ahead of him, however, and jumps straight up in the air.

The imp falls straight on the blade of the sword and makes a perfect landing with both feet. As the boy looks up with disbelieving blue eyes, the Skull Kid snaps the fingers on his left air.

The boy is sent flying backward past the horse. Just before he hits the tree behind him, however, the Skull Kid snaps his fingers again. The boy shrieks as he flies upward and parallel to the tree trunks. Just as he reaches the skyline, he is unexpectedly slammed back down all the way to the ground within a millisecond.

The Skull Kid and the fairies laugh at the bruised, moaning boy next to the horse. Skull Kid waves his hand, and a bright red light emits from the boy's body.

With another wave of his hand, the boy levitates off the ground and is stretched into a spread eagled position. He glares at the Skull Kid, who simply chuckles at his new plaything useless resolve. The Skull Kid glances down at his stump. He shakes his head, and the arm completely falls off. A new one tears out of the shoulder, and the hand clenches. Good as new.

The Skull Kid closes half the distance between himself and the boy before crouching down on one knee and picking up the dropped sword. Holding up the point by his left hand and the pommel by his right, he uses the slightest pressure to snap the weapon in half.

The Skull Kid gets up, dropping the pieces of the sword. It is only a few steps before he is staring the boy right in the face.

Without breaking his held gaze with the boy, the Skull Kid reaches into the pockets of the green clothes. For his part, the boy maintains his scowling face, refusing to be intimidated by the mask's glowing eyes.

The Skull Kid pulls a wallet from the pocket of his victim. The word "LINK" is sewn into the leather. So that's the boy's name. Skull Kid stuffs the wallet into his belt before resuming the searching.

Soon enough, Skull Kid pulls his hands out of Link's pockets and mockingly holds something in front of his face; a pretty blue ocarina.

Link reddens and tries to snarl, but the magic of the Skull Kid prevents him from doing even that. The red light surrounding the boy's body is as bright as ever. The Skull Kid gestures to the fairies, who float over and snicker.

The Skull Kid snaps his fingers, and a groan emits from the boy's mouth as he is slammed to the ground once again. The red light around the prone victim goes out; the Skull Kid has had his fun.

The Skull Kid turns to the horse, still staring blissfully forward. The mask-wearing imp jumps up with a snigger and lands on the horse in a perfect sitting position. The Skull Kid waits until the fairies perch on his bony shoulders before slapping the horse on the top of the head.

With a loud whinny, the horse leaps forward, picking up more and more speed as it runs through the thicket of trees, carrying the Skull Kid with it.

"Hey!" shouts Tatl. "Look at that!" The SKull Kid spins his head around to see Link grabbing tightly onto the horse's back leg, grunting as he is dragged across the ground. What a persistent one!

"I know what to do, Tatl!" The purple fairy flies down to Link before slamming his tiny body into Link's face.

"That won't do any good, Tael!" shouts the yellow fairy. "No problem Sis! I…" Tael is cut off by Link spitting at him.

Skull Kid is already tired of the conversation between his two fairies. He brings the horse to a completely stop, causing Link to slam into another tree.

Mumbling, the Skull Kid jumps off the horse and stomps over to Link, who is lying face down. The imp kicks Link so that he is on his back, glaring at him through the holes in his mask. Scowling back at the Skull Kid, Link spits directly between the eye-holes.

The Skull Kid does not say a word. He simply wipes the spit off his mask. Then he shakes his head once.

Link's vision suddenly goes dark. Within a second, so many things flash before his eyes.

Leaves.

Trees.

Spiders.

Wood.

Red eyes.

Sky.

Leaves.

Branches.

Trees.

Dirt.

Rocks.

Red eyes.

Wood.

Red eyes.

Trees.

Red eyes.

Red eyes.

Red eyes.

Link's vision is foggy, but he can now see the forest and the sky and the Skull Kid once more. He is still on his back. He raises his arms, as if ward off his enemy. But they are no longer flesh.

They are wooden.