Chapter 4: Like a Thief

68 hours remain

As Link and Tatl left the great fairies fountain, he sat down right outside of the cave.

"Looks like you can shoot magic bubbles. What could that do?" Tatl wondered, sitting on his shoulder.

Link shrugged." Ah! Don't do that!" Tatl yelled, rolling off his shoulder as it went up and down. She flew back on him with a sigh. Suddenly she looked up," Hey, see that balloon?! Pop it with your magic spit bubbles!"

Link shook his head.

"Pleeeaaase...?" Tatl begged," It doesn't belong to someone! I'm sure!"

Link sighed and stood up, hobbling over to the balloon. He looked at it, and did nothing.

Tatl floated up in front of him," Pleeeaaase?"

Link gave a helpless look in response.

"You're not gonna get in trouble!" Tatl whined.

Link looked even more miserable and shrugged.

"Oh!" Tatl exclaimed," You can't can you?"

Link shook his head.

"Just try!"

Link tried spitting, but only a bit of clear slime came out.

"Try blowing as you spit." Tatl suggested.

Link carefully took a breath and blew out of his large mouth and then spat. A large bubble appeared and flew forward, smashing into the balloon. There was a loud pop right as the balloon exploded.

"Yes!" Tatl cried," That was-"

"Hey there!" a young voice cried.

Link and Tatl both turned around surprised to find a little boy wearing a red bandana holding a blow gun. He was frowning, but a hint of amazement was in his eyes.

"You popped it!" he exclaimed.

"We um... I'm-" Tatl began," No it's okay! That's pretty cool for a deku scrub!" he reassured them.

Link let out a low squeak of apology." Hey, you wanna see something cool?!" the kid asked suddenly, ignoring Link's apology.

Link looked up and nodded." Well..." The kid pulled out a small whistle and blew it. In less than a minute, four other kids like him ran up, huffing and puffing." Yeah?!" they all said in union.

"Guys, hide!" the first boy suddenly exclaimed. They all saluted and ran off. The first one turned back to face Link," count to twenty, and then come find us all. If you can, we'll give you something awesome! Remember to close your eyes when you count!" he explained. Link nodded and closed his eyes as Tatl counted.

"one... two... three... something... eighteen.... twenty!" Tatl exclaimed. Link sighed because she had cheated but Tatl just smirked," C'mon, deku! Lets go find 'em!"

Link ran around North Clock Town, looking for at least one of the kids. After awhile, he stopped to rest.

"What're you doing?!" Tatl exclaimed," we gotta find 'em!"

Link gave a 'why so?' look. Tatl sighed," Skull kid once did this and there's a time limit! Look over by the playground! I'm sure one of 'em will be hiding there!"

Link nodded once more and started hurrying as swiftly as possible over to the playground. It turned out that the leader was hiding behind a large pillar. Link ran over to him and tried to tag him. The kid gasped and scurried off quickly.

Link tried to follow him, but as a deku, he was too slow. He stopped chasing after a minute and sat down to catch his breath.

Tatl groaned," It's no use! You're too slow! Oh, why do we even have to play these stupid games? My wings are wearing out!"

Link sighed, giving her a 'what now?' look.

Tatl thought for a moment," Oh I know! Lets sneak up on them! Use your brains - like a thief."

Link nodded and stood up. Patting the dirt off his bottom, he continued looking for the kid. Eventually, he spotted him, hiding behind a few trees, looking left and right. Link crouched down, crawling right up behind the kid. He quickly stood up and tapped on his shoulder.

The kid let out a small squeal and turned around," Dang it! You found me! Well, four more left. By the way, there's one left in the North!" he told him.

Link searched and searched until he found the other one hiding behind an empty market stall. Link crept up on him and tagged him.

For an entire hour he explored West Clock Town, looking for some more kids. When he finally found two, he caught them and went to East Clock Town. It was there he had found the last kid, high up on a roof.

Link crawled up on top of the building only to find the kid jump off holding a cuckoo. Link leapt off after him, and fell over as he landed. The kid hurried off to South Clock Town.

He ran down the large stairway after the kid and eventually caught up to him and tagged him. The kid sighed and started walking back to East Clock Town. He blew a small whistle loudly.

When they arrived back at North Clock Town, the leader stood facing Link while standing in line with the other boys.

"Good job!" he said.

"Yeah, good job!" the others repeated together.

"Yeah, so you said you'd give us something cool!" Tatl snapped.

"Oh, that's right." The leader said." First off, my name's Jim, secondly, we're gonna let you know the code into our hideout in East Clock Town. We can't let you join, 'cause last time we let a non-human join, well, yeah. That kid stirred up trouble!"

The other kids nodded," Alright then," the leader continued," show the code, boys!"

They all turned around, revealing bold numbers on their backs.

Tatl then spoke up," 42135? Got it! Lets go, deku boy!" she ordered right before flying over to East Clock Town.

Link followed after her up to a large opening guarded by a small kid in an orange bandana.

"Hey, you guys know the code?" the kid suddenly asked.

"Yeah, 12345." Tatl said.

"Uh... wrong answer." The kid said flatly. Link looked up at Tatl, giving her a stern look.

"Um, I mean, uh... 43215...?"

"Nope."

"42153?"

"Nope."

"Oh, I remember!" she suddenly said," 42135!"

"Yep." The kid then moved over.