Stray Fairy

The Stray Fairy is a symbolic representation of a portion of a shattered Great Fairy, with appearances in Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, and Four Swords. In a region where a Great Fairy lay at the mercy of her Stray Fairies, they will appear individually and often at hard-to-reach heights or inside treasure chests; the collection of all the Stray Fairies in a region will facilitate the resurrection of said Great Fairy, upon returning them to their respective Fairy Fountain.

Majora's Mask
In Majora's Mask, the five Great Fairies have been split into pieces by Skull Kid (wearing Majora's Mask). Link must gather them up and take them to the shrine to "repair" the Great Fairy, who will aid him in his quest to save Termina.

The first Great Fairy in Termina is found in North Clock Town, and only one Stray Fairy is missing. It is found in the Laundry Pool in the daytime and in East Clock Town at night. When healed, she either gives Link the Great Fairy's Mask or a magic meter, depending whether he is Deku Link or his normal self.

The other Great Fairy Fountains are in the four cardinal directions, where each Great Fairy is missing fifteen Stray Fairies, which can be found in that area's dungeon. Each time a Great Fairy is healed for the first time, she rewards Link with a helpful item.

Oracle of Ages
In Oracle of Ages, three friendly but mischievous fairies have the power to rearrange their woods as they see fit. They must be located in the Fairies' Woods in a hide-and-seek game. When Link is successful, the fairies straighten out the Woods, allowing Link to reach the Wing Dungeon.

Four Swords
In Four Swords, in addition to Fairy Spirits, Stray Fairies appear in Chambers of Insight at the beginning of the game, and provide the Links with their advice on how to progress.

Trivia
Symbols that appear on switches in the Chambers of Insight from Four Swords and the Jabber Nuts from The Minish Cap slightly resemble the head of Stray Fairies.