The Boy Without a Fairy

WHOP!
“Ha! Get’em Mido! Get the lousy scrub!”
BAM!
“Ha! That’ll teach that stupid no-fairy!”
SPLOSH!
“How does that mushy apple taste outsider?”
It was another day. Another day and another pounding. Little Link had barely enough time to descend his treehouse before another ragtag band of troublemakers, led by Mido, arrived to effectuate his daily beat-up session. He hated these sessions. Mido always called them ‘initiation rituals’, because they were testing to see if he had become a ‘real man’ yet. Link was fairly certain that Mido knew from the beginning he would never become a ‘real man’, and was equally unsure whether Mido knew what ‘initiation ritual’ even meant. Of course, that didn’t bother Mido. He attended these sessions religiously and never failed to be the life of the party.
“Hey scrub! Did’ja catch a fairy yet? Or did she fly away because you smelled too bad?”
Why wouldn’t Mido and his gang just leave him alone? Wasn’t it bad enough that he never got to join the rest of the Kokiri at the late night campfires, or that he was always picked last to play fairy tag (if he was picked at all), or that the only place he had to live was a miserable, aging treehouse on the very edge of the clearing, several long minutes away from everyone else? If they ignored him, that would be one thing. He was used to being left out. But the fact that they took pleasure in spoiling what precious time he did have to himself…it made him angry.
THOCK!
Another punch. A stream of red was running down his face.
“Hey, look! He really does bleed! Maybe he’s not a scrub after all! Maybe he’s a…Skull Kid! Just look at that blank expression on his face! It’s like he doesn’t have one at all! What’s wrong little Skull Kid? Did’ja lose yourself in the woods? Oh, I forgot! You’re always lost!”
The crowd roared with laughter. Link lay miserably in the dirt, unable and unwilling to move. He dazed off into the treetops, trying to ignore Mido’s endless abuse. Then, he noticed something—a strange bird with golden pupils, perched very high up in a tall tree. It was looking him straight in the eye, and appeared to be frowning. Its head spun around like a wheel, observing him from bizarre angles, and never appearing to blink. Link was certain by now that he was hallucinating, because the bird suddenly starting talking, though no one else seemed to be able to hear.
“Get up Link! Get up! Get up Link! Get up! You’re strong Link! You have a fairy now! Get up!”
As if he had a fairy. He had been waiting for one to come to him for…how long had he been here? At any rate, every single Kokiri in the forest had received a fairy companion, except for him. Was the Great Deku Tree deliberately trying to ignore him? Did he really hate him like everyone else? Why did he have to be different?
“Get up Link! Get up! You have a fairy! You are strong! The time has come! Hoot hoot!”
“I’m talking to you scrub!”
That was it. Whether because of the strange bird’s incessant prodding, or because of his desperation to end this stupid ritual, Link suddenly grabbed an oncoming punch, catapulted himself to his feet, and smashed his fist as hard as he could into Mido’s left cheek. The bully fell hard to the ground. The crowd fell silent.