Zelda's Search
The huge battle was finally over. Ganondorf was gone, at least for now. I could scarcely believe it myself, but we had finally won. After all that time of watching Hyrule melt down to ruins, I had triumphed. Well, not really me; Link had triumphed. After all that he had done for me.. I couldn't bear to think that I was about to send him back.
"I want you to return," I said slowly, "to your old life." Shock and disbelief passed over his face, but he said nothing. "You were young. I tore your childhood from you and forced you to do this. It's the least I can do, just let you regain lost time."
He remained silent, obviously going over this again in his mind. This future would be destroyed. No one but him would remember a thing. I hoped the child within his grown-up heart understood that I wouldn't remember him after this moment. Growing impatient, I held out my hand and told him to give me the ocarina. He did, looking extremely sad. I held it to my lips and played the song of the Royal Family - my song. Except I messed up on the last note.
"Oops!" I cried, watching helplessly as Link was enclosed in a blue beam of light. "I'm so sorry, Link! I don't know what's happening!"
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" he screamed, rising through the sky.
I frantically tried to think rationally about what to do. Well, this future was going to be destroyed anyway, right? I may as well go after him. I played the song the same way that I had for him, and soon I was following. Through the Sacred Realm I flew, wondering what was to become of us. After a while, I landed in a strange world of mysteries.
Looking around, I saw many strangely shaped trees, and breathed murky, night air. "Ew! Gross!" I yelled to no one, noticing that I was standing neck-deep in swamp water. "This is disgusting! Where's Link?" I made my way to a small dock, swishing through the thick, violet muck. I gladly pulled myself up and walked onto dry land.
"Hey!" someone called from above me. I looked up and saw a Deku Scrub. "I'm trying to start a business somewhere else. But you need to go through the proper channels first.. Do you know what I mean?"
"No," I said slowly. "I'm looking for a guy dressed in green. Have you seen him? He answers to the name Link."
The Deku looked disappointed. "Haven't seen him. Look in the town, to the north." With that, he tucked back into his flower. I shrugged and started off toward what I hoped was the north. Before long, I was out of the swamp and in a huge field. There were trees and rocks and animals everywhere. This place reminded me of Hyrule.. but not really. It was different. Maybe I sent us to the future..?
There was a huge building up a little ways. Perhaps that was the town? I hoped it was, because that was where I was going. I started through the bushes. "OW!" I screamed, falling over. A Deku Baba had grabbed my ankle, and was proceeding to gnaw away at my ankle. I screamed again, scrambling away as fast as my legs would take me. Once out of the bushes, I examined my torn ankle. Luckily, it wasn't bleeding much, but I thought it best to get to a caretaker immediately.
I heard a horse's whinny behind me. "Hey, stranger," someone called. I turned around abruptly.
"Oh, Malon!" I cried in relief. "You have to fix my ankle. Those Deku Babas - "
She frowned. "I'm sorry, my name isn't Malon. It's Cremia. I have a ranch south a little ways.. My little sister is still there."
Ah. So that would explain the horses carrying the wagon stocked with milk. What did she think I was, stupid? "My name is Zelda. I'm the Princess of Hyrule. If you don't mind my asking, where am I?"
Cremia laughed. "You're in Termina! Haven't you ever heard of it?" I shook my head, and she frowned again. "Well, I suppose I couldn't expect you to; I've never heard of Hyrule. You're awfully young to be traveling alone. Where's your mother? Or father?"
"What do you mean I'm young? I'm just as old as you are!"
She laughed again. "You must be only ten years old! You're my little sister's age!"
My face fell. I gaped at her in horror. "You mean.. I'm.. small?"
"Of course!"
I'm sure I looked traumatized, because Cremia smiled sympathetically. "I can give you a ride to the town, if you'd like. Come on up."
I did that, sulking in the back with the milk. I didn't want to be small! I thought I was still big! But why? In any case, Link must be small, too. He must be here, small, waiting for me to find him.
"Romani's been practicing archery," Cremia said, shattering my thoughts. "She says it's to protect the cows from the 'ghosts.'"
I made a small noise of appeal, then proceeded to ignore the girl until we reached the town. But, because of my smaller body, I fell out of the carriage and landed flat on my back. That kind of thing was humiliating, especially for a Princess. Then I noticed something.
"Cremia? Why is the moon so big?"
"Weren't you paying attention?" she asked, sounding hurt. I silently cursed myself, then she went on. "The townsfolk say that the moon is falling. I find it rather amusing, don't you? The old astrologer says it's got something to do with that Skull Kid prankster. Many say he's cruel, but I have yet to suffer from him. Hopefully, I won't have to suffer at all."
So that was it. Poor Link, always destined to save something. He had to stop the Skull Kid and save this strange, clone-country of Termina. But if this wasn't my fault, he would have had to save it eventually anyway. Which meant...
"There are two Links here!" I screamed, jumping up. Cremia looked at me strangely, but I hardly cared. I ran into the town, searching for one of the Links that had to be here somewhere.
I stopped and sat on a box in the middle of the town to try to reason out my theory. One Link was sent here by me, accidentally. He was sent back in time, once again a child, as was I. But the other Link was going to come here anyway, to save the country. But was he here now? Or was I too early?
Or too late?
No, I told myself. Sooner or later, both Links were going to show up. Until then, I would have to do all I could to find out when and where the second Link was going to fulfill destiny and save the country.
The Dawn Of
The First Day
- 72 Hours Remain -
I woke with a start, realizing that I had fallen asleep. Someone must have taken me inside somewhere. I thought it best to see where I was. Looking around, I saw Talon.
"Talon! Thank you so much for sheltering me!" I cried. "I know, it was stupid of me to fall asleep in an active town square, but I don't have time - "
"I don't know what you're talking about," Talon said, waving his hands and sweeping up junk. "I've got to clean this up for when the bar opens."
"I didn't know you ran a bar," I said stupidly. Then I realized that this must not be Talon. "Forgive me, I mistook you for someone else. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. I'm looking for a boy, about my age, named Link. He always wears green. If you see him, tell him that Zelda is looking for him." With that, I left, allowing no time for the stranger to respond.
The memories of the previous day came rushing back at me, and to my dismay, I was still a child. The whole thing wasn't just a big dream. Then, I was hit with the memory of my conversation with Cremia. The astrologer! He would know about that Skull Kid if he was causing trouble! But where was he? "I hate having to figure things out!" I yelled at myself. Logic was not one of my best attributes.
But no, there wouldn't be two Links here, just the one I sent here, because the other one didn't have a chance to be there yet because Link wasn't sent back to the right place.. I didn't know. All this was making my head spin. I still had to stop the Skull Kid; I knew that much.
Walking around the town a bit, I spotted a child seemingly guarding a passageway. "Hey, kid," I said sweetly. "My name is Princess Zelda. Can you tell me where the astrologer lives?"
The kid stared at me. "If you want to pass through here, you have to know the secret code. What's the code?"
"I don't know. Milkshake?" I said, half-sarcastically.
"Wrong! Jim said I can't let anyone who doesn't know the secret code in. If you're not a member, they won't teach you the secret code!"
"Well, then how do I become a member?" I asked.
"If you want to be a member, go see Jim in North Clock Town!"
I sighed, and headed for the nearest door. Wandering around for a while, I finally found a grassy area, what I figured to be North Clock Town. Hoped, is more like it. I walked over to the boy with the red cap. "Excuse me, I'm Zelda, and I need the secret code," I said politely.
"What do you want?" Jim said, ignoring me. "I'm busy practicing with my blowgun! Don't mess with me!"
I looked behind me and saw an enormous purple balloon, with a strange mask image on the front. Growing frustrated, I used my power as the seventh Sage to destroy the balloon. Jim stared at me, awestruck.
"Are you the one who just popped that up there? Whoa! Hey, just for you, I can make you a member of our gang, the Bombers!"
"Good," I breathed. My power took an amazing toll on my pint-sized body.
"But there is a test of becoming a Bombers member," he continued. "C'mon! Give it a try! Are you ready?"
"I guess so," I said slowly.
"All right! Line up, guys!" Four other boys immediately circled me, and I just sat waiting for further instruction. "If you can find all of us by tomorrow morning, I'll teach you our secret code. Ready?" With that, they all took off in every direction, leaving me with the shattered remains of the balloon.
After searching around North Clock Town for a while, I managed to catch Jim and one other boy. They ran fast, though, and it took me sever minutes to catch up with them. Then, I set off to a different part of Clock Town, I didn't know which, but it had a huge tower in it. I looked around thoroughly, but didn't find anyone. Then I went to the biggest part of the town, with all of the games and shops. I found two kids there, and I knew that the last must be in the last part.
Finally, as it was getting dark, I found the last kid. "Aw! No way! You finally found me!" he cried when I caught him, then he took me back to North Clock Town.
"You did it!" Jim praised. "So what's your name?"
"Princess Zelda," I said, exhausted. I hated finding those kids, and was glad that I'd never have to again.
"Princess Zelda, huh?" he said. "All right! That Skull Kid broke our rules and he's been doing all kinds of bad things lately. Starting today, he's out! I'm making Zelda a Bomber! You guys don't mind, right?"
"Right!" they cheered together. I smiled.
"All right then!" Jim continued. "I'll teach you our secret code. Ready?" One by one, they each turned their back to me, revealing another number of the code. "The code is 24351! Write it down!"
"I don't have anything to write it down in!" I cried, repeating the numbers over and over in my mind.
"Oh, yeah. Here's the Bomber's notebook. Write it down in there."
I quickly did that, thanked the Bombers, and rushed off to where the kid was. It was getting dark, so I'd have to hurry before the Astrologer went to sleep. "Hey, kid! I've got the code now! Let me in!"
"If you want to pass through here, you have to know the secret code! What's the code?"
"24351!" I yelled, trying to brush past him.
"Umm... That's right. If you know the code, then you're a member, right? Okay, here you go!" he said, moving aside. "There's a lot of cool stuff at that telescope guy's place. Oh, yeah...and, um...The Bombers Secret Society of Justice forever!" he called as I ran past.
I traveled through the murky sewer-type area as quickly as I could, not only to see the astrologer, but also to be out of that creepy place. A Skulltula fell from the ceiling; I killed it as quickly as I could. Then I continued through the passage.
Finally, I emerged into a world of color. The astrologer's observatory was beautiful! I marveled at it for several minutes before I went up the stairs to talk to him.
"Well, you're a child I've never seen in town before," he said, turning to greet me. "Are you a new friend of the Bombers?"
"I suppose you could call me that," I said. "I'm Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."
"I always say that it is important to develop your interests while you are young!" he continued. I decided right then to drop the Princess from my name, since no one here seemed to care about my status. "You can use this telescope to look around town. If you're interested, give it a try!"
I thanked him, and gazed into the telescope. I saw a bunch of birds, and there was the town straight ahead. I looked at the amazing tower rising from it, and wondered what it was for. Wait a minute...there was a person on top of it! Zooming in, I realized it was the Skull Kid! He danced around a bit, and a crystal-blue rock fell from the sky and caused a massive shatter in the ground. I looked back at the Skull Kid, but he was gone.
"How was it?" the astrologer said as I pulled away from the telescope. "Did you discover anything interesting?"
"What can you tell me about the Skull Kid?" I asked, trying not to be rude.
"That ill-mannered troublemaker from the other day said he'd break my instruments...He said he'd steal my Moon's Tear...there was no stopping him. Even now! Just watch him! He's probably causing trouble around the clock tower!"
"I saw," I said grimly. "Thanks for your time, but I must get back to the town to search for my friend." I left, and lay down is the grassy fields of North Clock Town, watching the moon draw closer in the night's sky.
º*End Chapter One*º
So what do you think? LOL, this story sucks.. but I don't care, I'll post it and complete it anyway, for the select few who may like it. More parts to come.. I don't know how many more, probably not that many. ^_^ Please review!!