The two grew closer ever since that day. Not that they weren’t close before; they were, but something changed then. Seulgi couldn’t quite put her finger on what exactly changed, but it just felt....different between the two girls. 

Even though it all happened years ago, Seulgi still remembered everything as if it happened the day before: the day she discovered Yeri’s secret talent. She didn't understand why Yeri wanted to keep it a secret, but if that was what she desired then so be it. Everyone had their reasons for keeping certain things hidden from others; it wasn't her place to pry. Seulgi had some secrets of her own so she could understand to some degree.

All was calm in the Kokiri village. Everyone was going about their daily business and living their lives.

Seulgi was on a quest of her own: looking for rupees. She only needed a few more and she would have enough to buy an ocarina. Not for herself. Seulgi didn’t even know how to play it. And honestly if she tried, it would most likely instantly cause everyone unfortunate enough to be nearby to get a headache.

The ocarina was for someone very special in her life.  

The girl couldn’t help but smile as images of her most important friend flashed through her mind.

Yeri mentioned recently that her ocarina was getting old and started getting cracks. Seulgi saw how much her best friend treasured that ocarina and wanted to do something special for her.

When Seulgi went to the local shop one day to buy some more deku seeds for her slingshot, she saw that the shopkeeper had an ocarina for sale. That’s when she decided that she needed to gather as many rupees as possible so she could buy it as a gift.

Unfortunately rupees didn't grow on trees (nor did they grow when you planted them in the ground much to Seulgi's dismay. She tried.) That would've been nice, but no. Reality was harsh. You either came across them or didn't. That was it. In general, they were a bit challenging to come by, but it was doable with some effort, perseverance, and luck.

Sometimes she found rupees while swimming in the local pond. Other times she found them while cutting down long blades of grass. She recently discovered that if she broke open some rocks, sometimes there were rupees in there too. Seulgi didn’t know why rupees were located in random places like that, but she was just thankful that she was able to discover this. It made her quest a little bit easier. Only a little bit though. It was still tiring work trying to gather them.

The young girl, now much taller than before, was walking around the forest for hours, looking for any rock she could find and throwing it as hard as she could with hopes of finding more rupees. The process was a hit or miss. Sometimes she got lucky and other times that luck vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but disappointment behind.

But that didn’t stop Seulgi from trying her best. No. It made her feel like working harder if anything, especially since it was all for the person most dear to her heart.

With a grunt, Seulgi picked up a rather heavy rock with both of her hands. She threw it on the ground with all of her might and a loud crack reverberated throughout the woods as it broke apart, splitting in muliple pieces.

She smiled at what she saw amongst the rubble. There shining brightly on the ground amongst the crumbled remains of the broken rock was a glittering, emerald rupee.

Luck was on her side.

"Got it," Seulgi said proudly as she bent down to pick up the rupee. It wasn't worth much; it was just a standard green rupee, but it was something at least. She patted the dirt off the jewel with her free hand while holding it in the other and placed it in the bag she had attached with a rope around her waist for safekeeping. It wouldn’t do to have all the rupees she collected fall out of her pockets and spill everywhere.

The bag itself wasn’t too heavy, but it wasn’t light as a feather either. It did have some weight to it, showing that Seulgi managed to scrape up some rupees. She needed a few more and she'd have enough to buy that ocarina from the local shopkeeper. She tried to haggle and get him to lower down the price, but to no avail. That was okay though. Seulgi didn't mind paying full price for it. For Yeri, it was worth it.

The girl’s hands were dirty, tired, and even had some cuts from all the rock throwing she was doing throughout the day, but she didn't care. This was something that needed to be done. Seulgi wanted to do something special for her friend. If anyone in the world deserved a new ocarina, it was Yeri.

Images of Yeri’s smile played through her head. Her heart warmed at the thought of Yeri’s delighted face at receiving the present. She would be so surprised.

With renewed strength, Seulgi wiped the chalky residue left from the rocks on her tunic and stretched out her arms. She needed to get back to work. Those rocks weren’t going to break themselves. It’d be nice, but that’s not how things worked in the world.

The rock hunter walked around a bit more, trying to find some more rocks that she could potentially smash when she heard a twig snap behind her.

That shouldn't have happened.

As far as Seulgi knew, she was the only one around in that part of the forest. Everyone else was doing their usual business in the village.

What if it's....

It couldn’t have been a monster....right? Those were just myths told to keep the other Kokiri up at night and dissuade them from venturing past what was deemed to be safe by the Great Deku Tree.

She silently hoped it was a Deku scrub. Seulgi had experience fighting off those creatures. Not all of them wanted to fight and were actually pleasant if you gave them enough space and just talked to them, but some were just outright grumpy and attacked anyone who got within their sight.

It was understandable though. She’d feel grumpy too if someone interrupted her nap or was stomping around her home. But she really didn’t want any trouble. 

The lone girl clenched her fists. It wasn’t the most ideal plan, but she could use the rupees she collected as weapons if need be. At least long enough to distract whatever was behind her to buy enough time to escape or find a more suitable weapon to fight back with. (Not that the forest had much variety when it came to weapons but it was a plan at least.)

Seulgi wasn't a violent person, but she could fight if it was necessary. It helped that she was generally taller and stronger than everyone else in the village, but that didn't mean she was automatically guaranteed a win against anyone or anything. It was a good advantage to have though.

Suddenly she heard a loud obnoxious snort come from behind her; one that she immediately recognized. It was one she had heard numerous times growing up after all. "Well, well what do we have here?"

Seulgi sighed. Why did this have to happen now? Everything was going smoothly before she showed up. Saeron. The self-proclaimed leader of the Kokiri and all around jerk that believed her word was the law for some reason despite never formally receiving that title from the Great Deku Tree.

She looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with the person responsible for interrupting her important quest. There she was, standing a few feet away from Seulgi, arms crossed and face as smug as ever. Seulgi would be lying if she said she was happy to see the other Kokiri. Saeron wasn’t exactly the friendliest person in the forest; at least to her.

No. Scratch that. Saeron always went out of her way to be mean to Seulgi for whatever reason.

Saeron was beautiful. There was no doubt about that. With her long eyelashes, slender figure, and long, beautiful black hair that cascaded down her shoulders, anyone would be envious of her looks. But despite her beauty, her overly obnoxious personality ruined everything. It didn't help that she apparently liked to hear her own voice considering just how much she talked.

"What do you think you’re doing breaking my rocks?" she asked while pointing an accusatory finger at Seulgi.

Seulgi raised an eyebrow at Saeron’s words. How long had she been watching her? It had been a while since Seulgi started her rock hunting quest and she didn't sense that anyone was around.

Saeron must have took Seulgi’s silence as an answer in itself because she huffed loudly. "Don't play dumb. I saw you break a rock a few minutes ago."

"These rocks aren't yours," Seulgi retorted. She was annoyed by her attitude, but wasn’t surprised that Saeron spat that out. Saeron was Saeron after all. She said whatever was on her mind without caring about the consequences or how they affected others. That was just how she was, and probably always will be.

"Yeah they are," she scoffed. She gestured to the forest with her hand. "All the rocks in the forest are mine."

But just because Seulgi knew she was acting like her usual self, that didn’t mean she was any less annoyed. Seulgi was determined to not let her win. "No they're not. They don't belong to anyone."

It was true. The rocks did not have an owner. They were just lying there on the ground as rocks usually do. There weren't any names or pictures scribbled on them that indicated that they belonged to anyone. Due to this, they were fair game. But Saeron, for some reason that Seulgi couldn’t understand, thought otherwise.

"They're mine because I say they're mine. That's one of the perks of being the boss around here," snorted Saeron as she puffed out her chest, pointing a thumb at herself. "In case your deku seed sized brain forgot."

Seulgi couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance. For someone that was so short, Saeron had an ego that was taller than the Great Deku Tree himself. And the Great Deku Tree was the tallest tree in the forest and probably throughout the entire land of Hyrule.

"And since these rocks are mine, the rupees you found inside them belong to me! So hand them over." Saeron stuck her hand out, clearly indicating Seulgi to give up the bag full of all the rupees she spent so much time and effort collecting.

The girl couldn’t believe her ears. Did Saeron seriously expect her to hand over all the rupees like it was nothing? After all her hard work?

Seulgi silently fumed. How dare Saeron say that. Seulgi may have been quieter than the other Kokiri, but just because she was quiet didn’t mean she was a coward. She wasn’t going to roll over and do whatever Saeron told her to do like some of her friends—or maybe it was more appropriate to call them followers—did.

"No," she stated firmly. She didn’t know how Saeron would react to her act of defiance, but she prepared herself by clenching her fists. Seulgi wasn’t one for violence, but if Saeron was going to retaliate physically, she wouldn’t back down. She would fight back if she had to. If there were repercussions for doing so, she would deal with it when the time came but there was no way she was going to give in to such an unreasonable demand.

Saeron’s eyes widened and after a moment, she started laughing uncontrollably.

That was not what Seulgi expected. Not at all.

Seulgi didn’t know what was funny. Did she not sound serious when she said "no"? She was sure she wasn’t smiling when she said it or maybe her naturally smiley nature came out at the wrong time without her realizing it? Either that or Saeron totally lost it.

"You’re hilarious. I haven’t laughed like that for a long time" Saeron managed to get out after her laughter died down. She placed her hand out again and roughly gestured for Seulgi to pass her the bag full of rupees. "Now give me those rupees."

Seulgi blinked, confused as to what was going on before it hit her.

So she thought I was joking when I was being serious…

Seulgi supposed she could have played it off as a joke and just gave Saeron the rupees so she could leave her alone, but she wasn’t going to do that. She was going to be firm even if doing so caused the situation to escalate.

"No."

"What?" Saeron asked, clearly confused. She stuck a finger in her ear, moved it around, took it out, and inspected it for a moment before flicking whatever was on said finger away. "Excuse me? Can you repeat that? It seems like I had some stuff in my ear because I must be hearing things wrong. I could have sworn that you told me 'no.'"

"I did say no," Seulgi replied matter of factly. She was not going to let her hard work go to waste, especially because of who she was putting in all the time and effort for. "I'm the one who put in the work to gather all these. Not you."

The bully apparently wasn't pleased by Seulgi's answer because her smirk quickly turned into a deep frown and her face became red. "You’re going to be sorry."

Seulgi rolled her eyes at the threat. But she kept her guard up, just to be on the safe side. Who knew what Saeron would do.

"What are you laughing at?!" Saeron yelled.

Seulgi raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't laughing at anything."

"Yes you were!"

"No. I just rolled my eyes."

"Yeah! Well! At least I have a fairy!"

The low blow caught Seulgi off guard. Those words honestly made her feel like she got er punched in the stomach. She was told all throughout her life to ignore such harsh words, but even so, they still hurt just as bad, if not worse, as physical inflictions of pain.

"You're the only one without a fairy. What's up with that?" snarled Saeron, not letting up on the insults.

It was true. Seulgi was the only one in Kokiri Forest that didn't have a fairy; something that was an anomaly among them. From birth, each Kokiri was given a fairy to guide them. They acted as a tutor, friend, and stayed with their assigned Kokiri throughout their life.

Everyone except Seulgi. She never got a fairy of her own. As for why, she didn't know. She had asked the Great Deku Tree before in the past, but he always dodged the question and never gave her a clear answer.

She was different. Seulgi knew this. She didn't need to constantly be reminded of just how different she was from the others. The fact that she was the tallest one out of everyone in the forest, minus the Great Deku Tree, was pretty evident enough. Everyone else was shorter and smaller in comparison.

Not only that but everyone looked exactly the same no matter how much time passed. Seulgi, on the other hand, looked different than she was before. She became taller, her facial features became sharper, and she had to get new clothes made because her old ones didn’t fit her anymore.

Everything and everyone remained the same. It was like time stood still for everyone in the forest.

Except for her.

It was only Saeron that made Seulgi feel like an outsider; like she didn't belong. Everyone else in the forest accepted Seulgi, or at least if they had any disdain for her, they kept it under wraps. Saeron was different from the rest of the other Kokiri though. She made sure to always let Seulgi be aware of her dislike of her and went out of her way to do so. 

"You freak."

Seulgi didn't know why Saeron disliked her so much. She never did anything bad to the other girl, or any of the others in the forest. At least, she didn’t think she did. She always tried to be nice and helpful to everyone when she had a chance whether it was reaching for something on a high shelf or chasing away bugs.

Why did Saeron hate her so much? That was a question that Seulgi didn’t know the answer to. And, if she was honest, she would probably never find out why. The other girl wasn't known for being the most honest and open person.

"Seriously why are you even here?" Saeron spat with undisguised disgust.

Due to her honest nature, Seulgi was about to open and answer truthfully about what she was doing, but she stopped herself. Why should she explain herself to Saeron out of all people? Why did Saeron even care? Seulgi wasn’t doing anything bad, but what she was doing was none of her business. Saeron wasn’t the boss of her. 

So Seulgi stayed quiet. Nobody spoke. Only the sounds of the trees swaying with the wind could be heard.

Saeron was not pleased by that.

"Answer me," Saeron commanded, clearly growing impatient with how Seulgi was continuously defying her. "Did you suddenly forget how to talk? I said answer me."

But she wasn