*chk chk chkkk* *chhhhhhh* That was the sound that the mastersword made as Link hacked through the bushes, collecting rupees. But this time, something was different. There were no rupees, there wasn't anything. Well, actually, that wasn't much of a surprise. There had been many a time, in many an area that Link had been unable to collect helpful items.
"Oh come on... at least give me a heart or something." Link thought to himself as he swung his sword as hard as he could, spinning around violently. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing. Just damaging all the plant life around him.
*hack hack hack*
*hack hack hack*
Then, all of a sudden, Link lost his balance. Wait, his balance? He was suddenly finding himself falling through space. Where was he headed off to?
*FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~~~~*
*SLAM!*
He'd fallen down a hole... another "big surprise". There were so many of them around.
Link rubbed his eyes... Wait...
He felt his face. Wooden. He felt his mouth- some kind of strange tubular shape...
Oh no...
It had happened again.
He was a deku scrub.
/Oh no.../ Link found himself inwardly groaning. "Not the scrub life... Not again..."
He couldn't always find those damn flowers to help him bounce around. He didn't want to shoot deku nuts at enemies either. Wait...
Were there enemies down here? Or would he find a piece of heart?
Link decided to explore a little bit... and soon enough... he heard a voice.
"Tingle tingle, kooloo limpah!"
OH NO. Not him. Not him. Link cringed at the high pitched voice. It was that guy again, the one obsessed with fairies. Tingle. What was he doing here? He was trapped, in the dark, with one of the worst people he'd ever met... well not technically the "worst"... What was he thinking. It was still a nightmare.
"We need more respect! Tingle tingle." Link overheard once again, Tingle's terrible squeal of a voice.
"I agree. But it is too dangerous to go alone." another voice chimed in. Link immediately recognized it as the voice of the old man who had helped him several times before.
"Take this."
"What? Tingle tingle. I can't take that! Tingle. That won't help anyway! Tingle tingle. Totally useless, tingle. We need to do something important, tingle."
BUT THERE WAS A THIRD VOICE. ONE THAT STRUCK FEAR INTO THE HEART OF LINK.
"HEY Listen! We need to rally our powers together! Force them to pay attention to us!" It was Navi... Oh god... what was she doing here? He thought he'd gotten rid of her forever. BUT THERE WAS STILL MORE. It was a strange murmuring of many, chatting away with each other. It was almost some kind of uproar. This apparently was some kind of gathering. A strange one at that.
"Ahhh... yes... Hoo-hoo." Link heard yet another familiar voice. The owl. Kaepora Gaebora. The one that used to follow him around across the Hyrule plains.
"I can take my post at different areas," said the owl matter-of-factly. He was quiet, so Link took a few steps to hear better.
"No one will get past me without being notified of what they are doing. I will stand watch, and we will demand the respect and attention we deserve."
OH DEAR GREAT FAIRY. WHAT WAS BEING PLANNED HERE.
"But... Hoo-hoo. I sense that someone is here..." The owl sneered. "We.. have a spy, hoo hoo. My eyes see everything."
He rotated his head a full 360 degrees, "... Everything."
And all of a sudden, Link was bombarded with the most vicious sight he'd ever seen. There were so many of them. Why were they all here? They rushed into the area of the cave Link had fallen into. And all the eyes were on him. So many people he had met before... whose company he never enjoyed. In fact, the most annoying people, really.
"It is Liiiiink..." Came the disembodied voice of the great deku tree, which Link knew had to be somewhere nearby. "The hero of time, he has come to visit."
"LINK. Tingle tingle. Just the person we need! Tingle."
"NO." interrupted the owl, "We do not need his presence. He cannot steal the spotlight from us any longer! We deserve..."
Link felt himself covering his wooden ears, but he listened anyway.
"Our /own/ game."
"A game? What's the game? Tingle tingle." Tingle seemed confused, and Link had lost track of what the owl was talking about. What game?
"We... are in the world of a game." Said the owl. "I told you I see everything. I know that the hero of time is many people, because so many of them go around in circles. And some of them make other hero of time has many faces. He cannot be trusted."
Link turned to run. This did not look good. And what were they talking about?! His life wasn't some sort of game. He traveled far, and wide. He had accomplished a great many things.
But he forgot that he was livin the scrub life, and tripped. He couldn't move fast enough...
And that was when they fell upon him. Every person and creature Link had ever dismissed had grown into a fierce mob around the pathetic deku scrub.
"HEE HEE HEE!" Said the perpetually smiling man from the windmill, who played a couple notes on his accordion in celebration, "We caught him!"
Oh dearest great fairy... Link panicked, Oh what were they going to do to him?! What could be worse than being trapped in a room with all of them...?!
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" Link burst out, speaking for the first time he had in years. At that, some of them stood back, gasping. But, one of them stepped forward. It was tingle again.
"We deserve respect!" He squeaked. "You brush us off everytime we give you a quest!"
"You NEVER PAY ATTENTION." Squealed Navi, "You disregard all of us!"
Link covered his face with his wooden hands. How could this... be happening... He eventually opened his eyes back up and peered out. And there she was. Midna.
"Why hello, Link... seems you're in a bit of a predicament here..." She cooed. "Looks like you're going to have to do us... a bit of a favor."
"... and what is that." Link groaned.
"You're going to have to show all the players... How important it is to talk to every character. And listen. This will be... your new quest." Midna chuckled,
"Otherwise... I'll kill you." She smiled widely, one of her little pointy teeth sticking out as she smirked, "Or maybe someone else will. Tingle maybe? Death by Tingle?"
"My life isn't a game!" Link cried, "You can't do this to me!"
"Why yes, Link, we can." hooted Kaepora, "Hoo hooot. We can do anything. You are but a scrub right now. You see, this area is enchanted. You must do whatever we say, and maybe once you have fulfilled our wishes, you may go."
"I told you... This isn't a game!"
"Oh yes... hoot hoot. Yes it is. You may not have the evidence, but I have seen it in your behavior. You are more than one person. YOU. Are the reason we are so fed up. Your other personalities refuse to listen to us, /you/ refuse to listen to us. We are going to make a change."
How... how could this happen?! How could his life... this life... all the adventures he'd had... be a game? Was he... just a toy?
"If my life is a game, you are all part of it." Stated Link, "And I will do as I please."
"Oh no you won't!" Laughed Midna, "We may be secondary characters, but we'll take care of you if you don't.. obey us."
"Absolutely! Tingle tingle."
This was... a nightmare.
They swarmed around him, picking him up and carrying him... Where was he going? The cave... with its many twists and turns began to resemble a dungeon.
"Hah! We'll keep you here." chuckled Midna, "Until you decide to obey~"
"Obey! Tingle tingle." cried the evil fairy man. "Tingle tingle."
And they all began to chant.
"OBEY US..." chimed Midna.
"OBEY, OBEY. OBEY... OBEY... OBEY... HOOT HOO" The owl joined in.
"OBEY, tingle tingle. OBEYYYYYY" Tingle began to draw closer.
They all began to draw closer... and closer...
"No... NO!" cried out Link, opening his eyes.
He was in his home, in Kakariko village. THANK. THE GREAT FAIRY. Oh yes. He was /safe/.
"Hey, LISTEN!" cried Navi suddenly, the blue light too bright for his eyes this early in the morning.
But Link... decided to actually listen, this time.
"What."
It was the first time he'd spoken to Navi... in a long time. She went on about his next quest for a while, and all the while Link looked out the window wistfully, wondering if his life really was just a game.
... there was a figure in the distance.
It was Tingle. With leering, squinting eyes, glaring at him. Mouthing, "OBEY" over and over again.
"OBEY." "OBEY tingle tingle." "OBEYYYYY..."
Link looked back at Navi, wondering if she was seeing this.
Navi smirked,
"HEY...You better listen. From now on."
le fin