Chapter 7: Hide and Seek

"Oh my. You didn't get hurt just now, did you little boy?"

I wasn't really focused on answering the girl's question, until I felt her hand holding my own, and her other gently placed on my head. By the warmth of her hand on my head, it felt as though I didn't have my hat on. Once I lifted a hand to rub the side of my head, I was sure that I didn't have my hat on. It probably fell when I bumped into Mr. Ingo- I mean, Mr. Gorman...?

"Um, no..." I finally answered, while looking for my hat. Once I had spotted it near the entrance of the building, I urged the woman to let go of my hand and went to pick it up. I put it back on my head, sighing in slight relief that it wasn't lost. Then I stared back outside the building, looking into the direction where the man I ran into had gone. "The man was..."

"If you're talking about Mr. Gorman, don't mind him. He's a hard-working businessman, but people don't usually take his moodiness seriously."

I probably would have smiled if it weren't for my mouth being replaced by a snout. That's how I remember the workers of Lon Lon Ranch thought of Mr. Ingo too. The next instant I slumped when the thought of Malon crossed my mind. What would she say if she knew I'd lost her precious horse? I couldn't keep myself from making a fist when my thoughts then shifted to Skull Kid. I still had to find him, and I had to find him soon.

I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the side of my head, after being hit by something. I winced as I rubbed where I felt the hit, and then a small glowing orb came to my view.

"I can't believe you!" Tatl yelled. I had to pull the edges of my hat closer to head, so that I couldn't hear her angered voice that much. "First you had me going after you when you get chased by a dog, then I almost got shot down by a kid, and just a few seconds ago I nearly get trampled over just by staying inside your hat! You really attract a lot of trouble, don't you?"

'You have no idea.' I muttered. "Sorry."

The woman spoke again, bringing my attention back to her. "A little Deku boy with a fairy. You must have traveled a long way, huh? I bet you came to town to stay at this inn and watch this year's carnival, am I right?"

She walked towards a long counter, and at the moment I decided to look around the building. The inn looked a little bigger than most of the ones I've seen Hyrule Castle Town. And from what I can see, it had a long walkway that looked like it led to a path behind an open wall, behind the counter. But what got my attention was a large object that hung on the wall near the entrance to the inn. This round 'thing' had a colorful center and a rotating ring for its border. I got the feeling that this object was some kind of a clock, by the rhythm it moved.

"But shouldn't your mother be with you?" The woman continued. "What's you name, little boy?"

I turned to face her, then finally took a good look at her. The woman was quite tall and had a slender form, but maybe it was because of my Deku form for the most part. When I looked at her blue eyes, it was as thought they brought the glow to her face, along with smile. And her dark red hair flowed neatly down to the base of her neck.

I caught a worried look from the woman and I realized that I didn't answer to her yet. I tried to think back to what she just asked me.

"It's Link." I answered.

The woman stepped closer to me, and she crouched down until her face was directly facing mine. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Link. My name is Anju, and I'm the innkeeper here." Her face then saddened, but she still kept her smile. "But this place is going to be full, you won't be able to get a room for yourself. Unless..."

Anju stood up again and went back to the counter. I watched her get her hands on a book, then I turned to Tatl, who slowly flew closer to me.

"Link, we don't have time to waste. We still have to look for the Bombers' Gang, or did you already forget about that?"

"Right." I walked over to where Anju was and tried to get her attention. "Um... excuse me Miss Anju, but-"

Anju turned back to me with a cheerful face on. "Well, you certainly are a lucky one, Mr. Link. It looks like you have a reservation here."

'I had a reservation...?'

"Just hold on one moment." Anju made her way behind the counter, and I was left wondering and having no idea how I reserved a room at this inn. I heard Tatl muttering something about having a place to sleep.

"Here's your room key, Mr. Link. Make sure you keep it safe so that you don't lose it." She placed the key into my hands. "Your room should be our 'Knife Chamber'. It's on the second floor, the second door to your right as you go up the stairs and pass the veranda."

I stood motionless after thinking about the directions that Anju just gave me. The veranda... I wondered if it was the same veranda that Tatl pointed out, the one that had a giant bell. Then I remembered Tatl telling me she spotted a boy hiding under that bell.

"Ah, Excuse me miss. Where did you say the veranda was?" I asked hurriedly.

"Oh, It's the first door to you left once you reach the top of the stairway..."

I followed Anju's directions and rushed up the nearby stairs until I reached the door that would lead me to the veranda. Before I had a chance to grab the doorknob, Tatl suddenly flew in front of me.

"Don't make any noise when you're opening the door."

"I know that!" I answered back, before jumping to grab hold of the doorknob. It gave a small 'click' before I slowly opened the door. Sure enough, I saw the bell at the edge of the fenced roof. I looked to the ground and noticed a pair of feet under the bell. Hoping the my small Deku form wouldn't make much noise, I carefully tip-toed my way towards the hidden boy and tried to position myself where I was sure I was facing the boy's back.

I crouched down.

Then I jumped.

And the next thing I knew, I was on top of the boy as he lay on his stomach. He grunted in defeat.

"Jeez...it didn't take long for you to catch me." He said. I got off him and crawled out from under the bell, and I waited from him to come after me. When he got his bearings, the boy turned back to face me, and smiled. "Keep this up, and Jim might even try to make you a member of the Bombers' Gang."

"You think so?" I asked curiously, while not really sure to take it as a compliment.

"Don't count on it."

When I saw the boy heading for the door leading back inside the inn, I asked where he was heading off to. He told me that he was going back to the park, because that was where their gang met if they were caught. After the boy had left, I walked over to the fence and looked over the city streets.

'That wasn't so bad.' I thought. 'If I could keep this up, I'll be able to find the Bombers' Gang in no time, and I may get a new lead on Skull Kid. Maybe...'

"Come on, Link." Tatl said. "Let's go back to where the Clock Tower is. Maybe we can find another one of those kids if we looked around there."

"Yeah." I jumped off the roof, landing on a nearby patch of flowers. "So do you know which way we need to go to get back to the clock tower?" I asked as looked around the area.

"Um, well...your guess is as good as mine."

"Great, thanks." I figured I should start anywhere I could. Clock Town really was a huge place. I didn't notice until now how fast this part of the city got a little more crowded. I saw many different things as I looked around. I even came across a pair of jugglers who looked so much alike that I thought they were twins. As soon as I tore my gaze away from them, I saw another passage that looked as though it led to the lower areas of the city. I decided to follow it, seeing as it was the first trail I found since getting out of the inn.

"Clock Town sure is a busy place." I thought out loud.

"Weren't you listening to that innkeeper-lady?" Tatl said irritably. "People are getting ready for a carnival."

"Wait a minute, haven't you been here before? I thought you knew you're way around this place."

"Not exactly, but what about you? How could you have reserved a room at that inn if you say you're never been here before?"

"I have no idea."

Sounds of clashing tools brought my attention back to where I was going. I was back to the place where the Clock Tower was. I tried walking around while hiding behind a few stalls as I passed by them, hoping that I would cross paths with that stray dog again.

"Hey, Deku Kid!"

A man stood in front of me, his huge arms were folded over his chest, and he didn't seem to be in a good mood.

"This is a construction area. Only carpenters and volunteers are allowed to be here, so find some place else to go play if you don't want to get hurt."

"Sorry, sir." I eyes darted towards a nearby set of stairs, and I ran to that direction until I was sure that I was well out of the area.

The sun was brighter then usual, or maybe the heat was getting to him. He tried to wipe the sweat from his bald head, his face furrowed when it didn't help much. Well, after supervising a group of carpenters, watching them work for hours in the morning; one would wonder how anyone would not get cranky from that job.

"You all better quickin' up the pace, boys!" He hollered to his employees. "The festival tower ain't gonna finish buildin' itself."

One of the carpenters who volunteered to help build the tower, came up to face his supervisor with a large wooden beam over his shoulder, and a timid expression on his face.

"But Mutoh, what if the rumors are true? We'll have to evacuate as well, don't we?" His voice was hesitant, seeming afraid to hear the response of the man in front of him.

Listen to yourself! Believing in a false theory makes you a fool! If the people of this city abandons this year's carnival because of something so ridiculous, then you're all cowards!"

Mutoh then reached into his pocket to grab hold of his pocket watch. After taking a quick glance of it, he looked back towards the carpenters.

"I have a meeting to get to. I better not find any of you boys slackin' off when I get back. Is that clear?"

All the workers answered. "Yes, sir!"

Once I was sure I was away from the construction sight, I stopped to catch my breath and took a moment to look at my surroundings. This was a small area. A dirt path led down a small hill towards my left, also there was a wooden bench in the corner against a brick wall. The dirt path passed the bench, and ended at the base of a bridge built over a narrow water current that flowed from the right. There was only one tree in this place, and bushes and flowers surrounded its trunk.

I went to sit on the bench. While rocking my feet back and forth, I sighed quietly, hearing nothing but the rushing water and the croaks of nearby frogs.

"This place, I said while thinking. "It's too small for any of those bombers to be hiding. And I don't think they'd hide in that construction sight either."

I took another good look around. "...Maybe we should try someplace else, Tatl..."

When I heard no reply from her, I called her name again, this time with a worried tone. Slowly, she flew at my side. Her wings fluttered with unusual gentleness. It somehow gave me the idea that she might be thinking about something.

"Tatl, is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." She sound so different than her usual moodiness, I didn't know what to make of it. "I just thought I... felt something."

I said nothing, but decided to take one last look around the area, this time with more caution. Nothing moved but the fish swimming in the water and the light swaying of the grass and tree leaves. Just when I figured that nothing was here, I heard a sound. It was sort of like a rustling bush, but a little different.

I stayed quiet, hoping to hear that sound again. I did, and this time it sounded more like a sniffle. I then turned towards the tree, approaching it with slow and careful steps. Luckily for me, this worked in my favor.

Facing the bushes, I had to keep myself from snickering. Then I leaped to catch a surprised boy in his hiding place.

The little bomber squirmed under my feet. "I didn't know deku scrubs were so tricky."

"Oh please," Tatl said sarcastically. "You shouldn't be so obvious when you're hiding from somebody. Besides, there wasn't anything 'tricky' about it."

After taking a step away from him, I extended my hand towards the boy, helping him up to his feet. "Sorry about that." I said to him, while he brushed himself off.

"That's okay." He looked back up the dirt trail. "Well, guess I've got to go back to the park." He then hurried off, but not before wishing me good luck finding the rest of the Bombers' Gang.

'That makes two down.' I thought to myself.

"There's no one else here, Link." Tatl said. "Let's get going."

Nodding in agreement, I followed the path leading back to the construction area.

Anju sighed exhaustedly. She had lost track of time yet again. Afternoon was fast approaching, and she could do nothing but rush to finish preparing lunch, because she knew there were afternoon guests coming to the inn. While stirring the boiling soup over the stove, Anju thought absently about her busy day. She would be glad to sleep tonight.

Anju then heard her mother enter the kitchen and she stood next to her, eyeing the pot on the stove. She then faced her.

"Anju dear, will you be alright if I leave the inn for a while?"

Fetching a pair of woven mittens, Anju carefully grabbed the handle of the pot and moved it away from the heated stove. "Is anything wrong, mother?" she asked.

"I'm heading over to the Mayor's Office to have a little talk with Madame Aroma."

At that moment, Anju went stiff, uncertain about what she had just heard. Her mother seemed to have noticed her sudden disposition, but she acted no different.

After a moment, Anju replied with a low and uneasy voice."…Is it about 'him'?"

Her mother sighed. "Honey, I know that what you're going through must be hard for you, but I have a bad feeling about this whole situation, and I don't think it's safe to stay here and wait." She slightly turned away from Anju's gaze. "We may even have to leave town very soon…"

Anju nearly dropped the wooden spoon she held in her hand. "But we can't…" she said without thinking. "Not when the carnival is still on."

"That has yet to be decided, Anju. I heard that the Mayor is having a meeting about it this morning."

Anju hung her head low in disbelief. "Even if we do have to leave, the town guards won't let us pass the city walls…"

She then felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and she looked up to meet her mother's face. She looked just as displeased as her daughter did.

"We'll do whatever is necessary to survive. I think that's our first priority right now."

It was just my luck, catching sight of two more bombers in the same place. That was half the problem. I still had to catch them.

I haven't chased any of the boys until now, when Tatl and I spotted them in the far-west sector of the city. Those boys were fast runners; they would go up and down a large staircase leading back to the City Square. I had to be thankful for the columns and flowerbeds that ran along the stairs, because I figured it was sheer luck that I could cut off one of the boys' path to catch him.

I still had to worry about the second bomber. He ran towards the passage out of this area, but not before taunting me by blowing raspberries. I sighed. This was starting to feel like a long day.

As I followed him, I realized I was slowly falling behind. He led us around the clock tower and back in the park, when I caught a glimpse of him heading for the brushes in the playground to hide.

I stopped to catch my breath, and looked to the bomber's direction. He'd hear me come for him before I'd get the chance to catch him. I had to think of something.

Then it hit me. Looking around to find the giant flower from before. I remembered using it to hide from that dog that chased me around. I flinched at the memory.

"You can use that flower again."

I stood stiff when I heard it, the same voice that told me to use the flower in the first place.

"Do what I tell you and get to it."

Careful to make my way to the flower, I also positioned myself where I was out of the bomber's sight. Looking at the flower in front of me, I remembered the feeling of 'diving' into it. That was one of the strangest things I've ever felt, but it also felt as though I wasn't the one doing it.

"Dive into the flower, and I'll take it from there."

'Take it from there? What did that mean?'

And so I did, twisting my way inside until only my snout was showing. I kept still, trying to ready myself for whatever was about to happen next.

"Use your feet to push your way out of the flower. Put as much force as you can."

What happened took me by surprise. When I did so, I was launched high into the air, nearly as high as the walls that bordered Clock Town. I froze. The only thing that crossed my mind was the upcoming fall.

But there was none. Confused, I looked up and saw that I was holding large flowers in my hands. Their petals revolved rapidly, catching the wind to keep me hovering above the ground. This was so strange; I've never seen this sort of thing before. What confused me the most was how I knew how to do it.

"Try tilting the flowers forward to get above that boy."

Doing as I was told, I slowing approached the bushes and caught the bomber in my sights. I waited until I would be right in front of him before I let go of the flowers. When I did, the bomber realized he had no time to escape when I caught his arm.

There were sounds of 'oohs' and 'awes', and then I turned to see the three boys I caught standing against a wall across from where I was. They must have watched me when I was flying. As both the fourth boy I caught and I walked towards the others, Tatl flew back at my side.

"That was pretty impressive." She said. "When did you learn that?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know."

"Well, only one more to go. Let's hurry and find Jim already."

That's right. I didn't realize until now that the only boy missing was the ringleader. I took another look around the park, almost certain that he wasn't hiding in this place. But then I caught a glimpse of him hiding behind a tree not far from the giant flower.

Not wasting any time, I charged for the tree while also being careful not to trip over my own feet. By the time I reached the tree to grab Jim, he dodged my lunge and I fell flat on my face.

While lifting myself up with a groan, I could hear the boys cheering for their leader, as well as Tatl's yelling beside me.

"What are you goofing around for? Hurry up and catch him!"

"Easy for you to say." I muttered silently so that she couldn't hear me.

"He's heading for the slide!"

I watched Jim scurry off behind the slide at the other end of the playground. 'This is stupid.' I thought. 'I can't keep running for him head on, he'll just get away from me again. I'll have to think of something else.'

"Distract him."

I nearly jumped when I suddenly heard that voice again.

'How am I supposed to do that?' I asked.

"Use that nut for a brain of yours."

I grunted at the useless advice, but then the idea sunk in.

Nut.

I dug a hand into my pouch, sighing in relief that I still had a handful of Deku nuts I bought for Gods know how long. Looking back to the slide, I had to try and get closer to Jim without making so much noise. I couldn't try the trick with the flower again, he might be thinking that I'll use that trick against him too.

I carefully crept my way to one side of the slide. I knew that Jim was on the other. Glancing back to where the other boys were, I glared at them, warning them not to make a noise to help their leader. Looking above the slide, I noticed wooden fences covered in vines, acting as a border for the playground. I aimed, and threw a nut towards it. As soon as it hit the fence, I sprinted to get to Jim.

My plan worked. Jim's focus went to what hit the fence, and I was able to get a hold of his arm. Once he realized it, he groaned in defeat.

The game of hide and seek was finally over.

"I'm sorry sir," Anju bowed apologetically behind her desk. "We're completely booked with reservations. There are no more vacancies today..." She always felt bad at times like this, when she had to turn people down. She gave the traveler- a Goron- a sad face.

"But I had a reservation." Said the stone-like creature. "It should be under the name, Link- goro."

Anju blinked. "Mr. Link- Goro? But there's no reservation under that name." She looked to her desk. "Although, there's one name close to that..." she muttered silently.

"But this can't be right."

Just then, Anju heard the inn's door open. She sighed, and hoped that it wasn't another unfortunate customer. She was slightly relieved to see that it was the postman that had entered.

"A moment of your time, Miss Anju," he said. "I have a letter for you."

Anju turned back to the Goron in front of her. "I'm terribly sorry."

The Goron looked down disappointedly. "That's alright." He then turned towards the entrance. "It's a nice day today. I think I'll take a stroll around the city- goro."

Anju watched as the Goron walked out of the inn, feeling pity for him. Her attention then went to the postman, who stood by the door.

"You mentioned a letter?"

He walked towards her, and handed an envelope to her. "Here it it, milady." Raising his signature cap in salutation, he was on his way out.

Anju looked at the envelope curiously, seeing no sign of who or where it was from. After carefully tearing it and taking out the letter, she began to read it. Anju then let the envelope fall to the floor.

And she gasped.