A/N: Hello good readers! So here is one of the... *counts on fingers* three new fanfictions I'm going to start! It's all based on Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and it is, if I dare say, going to be pretty good. For those of you who've been following my Indiana Jones story, here's the scoop. I seriously wrote the next three chapters or so. I really did. I promise. But because my wonderful father dug up our phone line (curse dial-up) I haven't been able to post anything. Nada. Zilch. Then what happens? I accidentally delete them while cleaning out one of my folders. *Bangs head on desk*. So when I'm done being frustrated with myself, I'll go re-write them, kay? In the meantime, here's the first chapter of JOURNEY TO HYRULE. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: All characters, places, and other stuff affiliated with Zelda are not mine. They're Nintendo's.
Chapter I: Through the Rabbit Hole
Boredom is a curious invention of the human mind. We are upset and restless when we're not doing anything, and when we are doing something, we often tire of it quickly. Sometimes boredom is a good thing it makes us appreciate the things we do when we're not bored. But most of the time, it's dangerous. When we're bored, we start thinking of all the stupid things we could do that might have the potential to be fun.
That's how we got into this mess.
"I'm bored," said Chad in his trademark whiny, nasally voice.
The rest of us ignored him. Truth was, we all felt the same way. But none of us liked Chad, so we just minded our own business. The four of us; me, Chad, Jake, and Brian; were involved in the theatre program at our high school. Auditions for the fall play were in an hour. None of us had anywhere else to wait but in the theatre.
"I want to go do something," said Chad, louder this time.
"Then go do something," snapped Brian. He was already in a bad mood today, having just dumped his psychotic girlfriend who claimed she couldn't live without him.
"Well, it's no fun if I go by myself," sniffed Chad. "Why don't one of you come with me?"
We all made a sudden effort to appear busy.
"Oh, c'mon!" he cried. "Josh, you'll come with me, right?"
Josh dropped his pencil and looked up to the center of the stage where Chad was sitting. "Sure," he said, smiling fakely. Then he turned to me and mouthed, "Help!"
I groaned and rose out of my seat with a huff. I smacked Brian on the back of the head.
"What was that for?" he asked sharply. I glared at him.
He sighed. "Fuck my life." But still, he got up to join us. "So what are we doing?" he asked Chad.
"How about hide-and-seek?" When we stared at him blankly, he said, "Oh, come on! It's not like there's anything better to do. Besides, we've got this entire empty theatre all to ourselves for another hour."
"Start counting," said Josh. I knew he was just anxious to get this over with so he could finish his homework for the weekend.
Chad closed his eyes. "One... two... three..."
I started for the workshop, but Brian was already there.
"What happened to 'ladies first?'" I hissed.
"The feminist movement," he replied with a small laugh. "Gender equality, right?"
I scowled and stormed off to check the prop room. But Josh was already there.
"Sorry, Rachel," he whispered.
I had to quickly dart back across the stage just as Chad was calling out, "forty-five." By the time he yelled, "Ready or not, here I come!" I was just closing the door to the bat cave. It was an obvious hiding place, so I scrambled around to find some way to conceal myself. The drama teacher used this space for furniture storage, making lots of nooks and crannies.
I climbed between two couches and pushed them apart slightly so that I could lay flat on the floor. That's when I noticed something odd. It was hard to see in the limited light, but in contrast to the smooth tile floor I felt a strange bump. Curious, I took my cell phone out of my pocket and used its light to examine the strange object. It was still half-concealed by the couch, so I pushed it out of the way. There was a handle on the far side, which I pulled. The wooden plank swung up, revealing a ladder descending down to an unseen level below. With the light from my phone, I could just barely make out a craggily stone floor.
This was certainly eerie. I'd been in this room hundreds of times in the past two years and I'd never seen this trapdoor before. Maybe it was always hidden by the couches. Well, I thought to myself, if I were a true drama nerd, which I was, I couldn't leave any corner of the theatre unexplored. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and swung myself down onto the ladder.
It was a short trip down, thank goodness. I didn't like heights or the dark, especially when they were combined. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt my foot hit the cool floor. My phone was back out of its pocket in a flash so I could examine this secret room. And so that I would immediately scare off any critters that might feel the urge to suddenly attack my foot.
There were five walls, including the one I had just climbed down, arranged in a pentagon shape. The room was about the size of the average classroom in the school above. I wondered what it was here for. Probably part of the sewer. I shuddered at that disgusting thought.
I walked a few steps to the nearest wall, pleased when I realized the scent of the air did not change. There were carvings along this wall, which I mistook for graffiti when I first saw them. Most of the carvings were strange symbols I didn't understand. There was one, a pyramid of three triangles bound together, that appeared over and over again. I ran my fingers along one of these pyramids. The stone was cool.
Further along the wall was the largest of all these strange triangles. At the center, there was a hand print carved into the stone. I placed my own hand in line with this marking, and jumped back. The stone there was warm, almost scalding.
"Rachel!" I heard Chad's voice in the bat cave above. I had completely forgotten about the game.
"Down here!" I called.
"What is this thing?" I heard Brian mutter.
"Just come down here and see!" I called back.
I heard footsteps climbing down the ladder, three sets of them.
"You know," said Chad with a huff, "the point of hide-and-seek is to not let people know where you are."
"What is this?" asked Brian again.
"I don't know," I said. "I've never been here before. But look at the walls."
I pointed to the strange-looking markings.
"Weird," said Brian, taking his own phone out and going to examine one of the other walls. "These triangles are everywhere look."
He was right. On every wall, there was the same triangle pattern over and over again.
"Maybe this is one of those underground tombs," said Josh. "Like in ancient Egypt."
"Under a high school?" I asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well... no," he admitted. "But that would be cool."
"It's creepy down here," whined Chad. "Let's go back up."
"I want to have a look around," I said.
"There's nothing to look at," he snapped. "Just a bunch of lame pictures on the wall."
"You can go back if you're too scared," said Brian.
"I'm not scared!"
As if to prove his point, Chad walked all the way over to the far wall, where it was darkest, and stood there, facing us.
"Look at this hand prints," I said, pointing to the one in the center of my triangle pyramid. "The last time I touched one it was warm."
"So is this one," said Brian, running his hand along his own. "Weird."
I placed my hand on the carving once again, and didn't pull back now that I knew what to expect. The stone was as warm as ever.
Without warning, the ground began to shake.
I quickly pulled my hand back and looked back at the other three. "What was that?" I asked.
Before anyone could answer, the ground shook again. A piece of stone fell from the ceiling and crashed into the floor.
"Earthquake!" shouted Chad. Genius.
"Get out! Everybody to the ladder!" cried Brian.
The ground shook again, harder this time, knocking us all to our feet. Another piece of floor caved in. I realized with horror that I was slowly drifting towards the hole in the floor. It was as if some kind of invisible force was pulling me in.
A sudden burst of light shone through the opening, illuminating the room. All four handprints on the walls were glowing white, I noticed. I didn't have time to ponder what this meant; I was too busy trying not to get sucked into the hole.
Chad, who was closest to the opening, disappeared first. I didn't realize he was gone until I heard his strangled shout. I let out a scream of my own as I watched him fall.
Josh went next. I glanced over and saw that Brian had one hand on the bottom rung of the ladder.
"Rachel!" he called to me, swinging his other arm over in my direction. "Grab on!"
I desperately clawed my way over to him, reaching for his outstretched hand. But the hole was pulling harder and harder at me; I was using all the strength I had to keep from being sucked in.
"I can't reach!" I gasped, lunging for his fingers and grabbing nothing but air. As soon as I released my hands, I slipped another three feet towards the hole.
"Come one!" cried Brian.
I tried pulling myself back over, but suddenly the section of floor I was laying on collapsed. I was surrounded by the white light, falling towards the center of the earth.
We learned later that it was like a rabbit hole, except we weren't going to end up anywhere near Wonderland.