Forgotten

The Lost Woods are a dangerous place. Any soul that walks through the trees and ends up unable to find their way suffers one of two fates; adults turn into terrifying Stalfos, and children turn into creatures known as Skull Kids. They are well known for their pranks, but rarely leave the Woods.

At least, all the other Skull Kids stay in the Lost Woods. There is one that strays away for a little and suffers a terrible fate.

But that isn't where this story begins. Instead, we have to go back to the Era of the Hero of Time.

There is a young blond boy in green wandering the Woods one day, which is how Skull Kid first meets him. It's dancing atop a broken tree log, playing its flute. It stops when the Hero enters the space, eyeing the boy cautiously, knowing that some of the Forest children tend to treat the Woods creatures poorly. Skull Kid has been around for a long time, and he isn't a stranger to the Kokiri. It can't remember if it was a Kokiri in the past or not, but it still feels an intense hatred toward the race due to the treatment to the other Skull Kids and the Stalfos.

The boy smiles brightly, and when he approaches, Skull Kid jumps off into the trees. It watches curiously as the blond looks around in confusion, adjusting his belt and continuing on through the Woods. It briefly wonders how long it will take for this boy to become a Skull Kid as well.

It's a pleasant surprise when the boy returns to the Lost Woods some time later. He very clearly is still a flesh-creature. Skull Kid eyes him with a surprise when he enters the circle of trees where the pair of tree stumps are. The green hero looks around, stepping up onto the shorter stump. Skull Kid approaches carefully.

The boy takes out a pretty little flute, and Skull Kid tilts his head in interest as he starts playing a very familiar melody. Skull Kid begins dancing happily with the music, for as long as the boy plays. When the song ends, it rummages in its pockets. "You know Saria's Song! We should be friends! Here, take this!" it tosses the boy a Piece of Heart, and disappears.

The fairy boy returns to the Woods some time later, getting right back onto the stump he was on before. Skull Kid appears before him, happy that his friend has returned to play with him some more. The boy takes something out of his pouch, holding it out towards the imp. Skull Kid jumps down from his tall stump and walks over to the blond. "Quite an unusual mask you have there," it says, examining it. It chuckles. "I like it! It may make me look a little bit tougher. Hey, why don't you give it to me?" Skull Kid reaches into its pockets and produces some Rupees, picking out a yellow one.

The two trade, and the boy leaves the Woods again.

Satisfied with his purchase, Skull Kid heads deeper into the Lost Woods to make mischief.

Some time later, Skull Kid bumps into a group of Giants. The four of them take him into their circle of friendship. They spend a lot of time together, playing games and having fun. The Giants took Skull Kid around this mysterious land of Termina, watching from a distance as it pulls jokes on the inhabitants.

Skull Kid likes to play in Clock Town the most, because the Terminians have such amusing reactions to his pranks. Sure, the Deku race gets angry easily, but the flesh-beings are the best. They throw fits and try to retaliate.

It never really works, because Skull Kid is too quick for them.

For a while, it nearly forgets about the child in the Lost Woods. But in the back of its mind, Skull Kid feels as though the Kokiri boy has long forgotten about him.

One day, the Giants leave. They don't say anything about their departure, and Skull Kid is left alone to its own devices. Pranks don't feel the same as they usually did, and Skull Kid feels his happiness die as time goes on.

The loneliness is suffocating.

On a rainy day, it meets Tatl and Tael, who hide under the same fallen log it's hiding under. Maybe it's because the Giants have left Skull Kid alone for so long, or maybe it's because the fairies remind it of the Lost Woods, but their connection is sparking. They draw pictures on tree trunks, pull more pranks on Clock Town, and all in all have a grand time together.

Skull Kid decides to return to the Lost Woods one day, and it stumbles across a mask salesman.

Except it's not the salesman that's calling to Skull Kid, but instead some supernatural presence emanating from him. What other method to seek that power out than to knock the salesman to the ground and out cold?

The power is coming from a mysterious purple mask, to the point where Skull Kid swears to the Goddesses that it hears the mask whispering. It puts the mask on and no longer is it Skull Kid, but the evil God Majora.

Skull Kid doesn't have any recollection of his time possessed by Majora. It just knows that after it wakes up and sees the Kokiri boy that something has gone wrong. It looks over the flesh-boy's shoulder and notices that the Four Giants are standing over them, blocking the sun's rays from hitting them. They murmur something in their language, and Skull Kid recoils in surprise. "You guys...You hadn't forgotten about me?" It looks down as it starts shaking. The realization of his mistake—taking that mask and allowing its whispers to take him as a puppet was weighing on him. "You still thought of me as a friend?"

The Giants don't respond, instead leave to their respective temples, singing the Oath of Order, off to guard the land and protect the people from danger again. Skull Kid watches them leave, and then turns to the Hero. "Did you...Did you save me?" it asks, and the boy nods his head. Skull Kid looks off towards Ikana, a wistful smile on its beak. "I thought they didn't want to be friends with me. But...They hadn't forgotten about me."

They hadn't forgotten like the blond in front of Skull Kid has forgotten in a short period of time.

"Friends are a nice thing to have." Skull Kid giggles, turning back to the boy. "Could you be my friend, too?"

The Hylian looks surprised at the request, and the imp can't blame him. To him, Skull Kid just almost destroyed the world. The imp approaches the blond, the two fairies right by its side. It takes a big whiff of the boy's scent. Yes, this is that same boy…

"You have the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the Woods," it says with a laugh, stretching its limbs. "I know, I know! Let's do something!"

The pair nearly forget about the Happy Mask Salesman, standing not too far away. Skull Kid lowers his head as the man bids his farewell, too ashamed in its actions to meet his eyes.

Before Link leaves the Lost Woods, he notices a short tree stump with a drawing of him and the Skull Kid, along with Tatl, Tael, and the Four Giants.

Skull Kid stays in the Sacred Grove for thousands of years, waiting for his closest friend to return to him to play some more.

And then, his friend returns. In the body of a man, but the spirit of the Hero of Time is very strong in the Hero of Twilight, and Skull Kid can't help but play a little with him.

author's notes:
this isn't my best piece, but i wrote it in about an hour or two so whatever
i love majora's mask and i love timelines and i love taking a zelda character and getting into its head
love me my zelda friends
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