Author's Notes: Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated this story in a while, but I thought it would be fitting to wait for New Year's Eve, considering this story is one about time. I am aware that this chapter is, while not being too much of a plot advancer, it does provide some important closures before leaving on the mission, as well as a bit of comedy. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10: Preparations

Friday, Day 1: 1:00 PM (65 hours remain)

Double D and the others left the office soon after the mayor's meeting has resumed. They grouped on a plaza just outside of the Mayor's office.

"Ok, Double D." began Link. "And everyone else. If we are going to do this, we need to prepare."

"Er, to do what exactly?" Eddy asked.

"Find the guardians." Tatl noted. "We'll have to go to the Swamp as planned. But..."

"But?" Double D asked.

"...well, this town is well guarded, and aside from the moon itself, it's a well protected area. But outside of the town walls, the fields are, well, infested with all sorts of monsters."

"MONSTERS?!" Double D and Eddy shouted.

"Cool!" Ed proclaimed. "We must vanquish those beasts!"

"Er, what sort of monsters?" Double D asked.

"The area just outside of our town is a place called Termina Field." Tatl explained. "It's a crossroads where paths to the north, south, east and west all meet. As such, all sorts of creatures routinely migrate from the four compass directions. Birds that steal from passerby, animated goo that attacks anyone who approaches their nests, spiraling green creatures that burrow under sand, fire breathing dragons, and mice which explode on contact with other living creatures. And this is only during the day, the nocturnal creatures of Termina are much more dangerous still."

Double D rubbed his head in thought. "This is going to be very dangerous isn't it?"

Tatl nodded. "Everyone, I think it's a good idea to prepare first. We can separate and search town individually for things we may need for the trip."

"I'm already set, now that I have my sword back." Link said, making a gesture towards his trusty sword which remained in it's sheath on his back.

"Alright, but these other three need some method of fighting. Without protection they're not going to be very useful out there."

"Well, alright then." Double D said. "Let's meet at the Milk Bar in East Clock Town at 4 PM. Everyone should hopefully by then at least have some sort of clue about what they want to do about fighting."

Friday, Day 1: 3:00 PM (63 hours, remain)

"Ugh..." the town postman moaned, laying down on his bed. It had just been a long, tiresome day of deliveries. His highly demanding job left him exhausted, as he lay nearly motionless, panting heavily and sweating, atop his bed which wasn't made yet today.

However, this relaxation moment was short lived. The door to the post office suddenly burst open. Behind it stood a tall oaf of an Ed, holding his foot in a kicking position.

The postman, surprised, sprung out of his bed, surprised.

"What the-?!"

"Swordsman!" Ed shouted in a declarative tone, pointing strait ahead. He proceeded into the room slowly, still holding his pointing pose. "I have come! Please endow me with your powers so I can vanquish eviiiiiil!!"

The postman stared, bewildered. "Swordsman?!"

A moment later he laughed. "No, no, I'm not the swordsman. He lives next door. I'm just the postma-"

Ed would hear none of this. He approached the postman, before crying out and bowing before him.

"Pleaaaaaaaase Mr. Swordsman! Show me how to vanquish all evil!"

The postman grew more annoyed. "Ok now, listen. I have mail to deliver later tonight so I need time to myself to rest, so-"

"PLEAAAAAAAAAASE!" Ed pleaded again.

The postman merely stared, bewildered. "...I don't think I know anything that can help you."

Ed looked up from where he was bowing, eyed widened and tears forming in the ducts of his pitiful expression.

The postman placed his face in his hands. "The people I have to put up with in my profession..."

He looked down at Ed and nodded. "Ok, ok! I'll see what I can do. But I can't do anything for you until my route is finished, and that will take a couple hours at leas-"

Ed scrambled across the room to grab a large leather sac, filled to capacity with letters. He then picked up the postman's red work cap, which had been all the while sitting atop a counter, and made a solute sign.

"Don't worry, captain! I will do this serve in the name of riley!"

"What is your problem?!"

Ed bolted out the door in an instant, with the force of a wrecking ball, knocking the whole frame free of it's place on the wall, rushing away a light speed leaving a trail of letters behind as he carelessly carried the sac through town.

The postman was left bewildered and horrified, still standing next to his bed.

"...oh good gravy, I'm going to be fired."

Friday, Day 1: 3:04 PM (62 hours, 56 minutes remain)

Double D slowly opened the door before him. Inside, it was relatively quieter and calmer then the hustle and bustle outside of the town walls. It seemed like a relatively empty room, with a platform at the far end, only about two steps high off the ground. In front of this platform, to the left side of the room was a large gong, gold and silver in color and design.

"Hello?" called Double D out. There did not seem to be anyone present inside at the moment.

"Strange..." he noted, rubbing his head. "I could have sworn that this was the Swordsman's School."

With a shrug, Double D turned around and proceeded back towards the door. The moment he turned his back, a knife soared across the room silently. It cut through the frame of the door, just missing Double D's head by an inch. It burrowed in the wood where it remained, stuck in place, still quivering from when it was hit.

The sock hat was frozen at first, horrified with his near brush with death. His eyes darted to the knife which stuck in the wall beside himself.

"What do you want?" asked a voice behind himself. Double D turned and saw a man sitting on the higher platform, his head almost completely covered with a large amount of hair, enough to make even the most committed hippie jealous.

"This is a place for the study of the sword. And you do not have one." the man said. "So unless you come here with a sword, this place is no place for the likes of you, kid."

Double D turned. "Please sir, I need a weapon of some kind! I'm about to go into Termina Field!"

The swordsman laughed. "Termina Field? You think you can survive out there? Are you nuts?"

Double D shook where he stood. He then gulped, and with a sweat, took a step forth. "It's j-j-j-just something I need to do!"

The swordsman slowly got up, and shook his head. "Sorry, I don't have any swords or anything to spare for you. The best I have for you is that knife I just threw. Besides, you don't seem like the swordsman type."

Double D frowned. "Do you know of any other place around here that sells weapons?"

The swordsman thought for a moment. "Well... not per se. But maybe I can help you. But I need to test your abilities."

"Abilities?"

The Swordsman nodded. I have a course here, specifically for fighters in training. If you pass, I'll be sure to help you.

"But I'm not sure if I have time-"

"Trust me, kid..." began the swordsman. "If you want to last out there, then this is crucial."

Double D gulped. "Ok."

The swordsman got up from his seat and rose his hand. With a snap of his fingers, the whole room began to rumble.

"W-what's this?" Double D asked, surprised, having trouble balancing.

The swordsman smirked. "You better arm yourself quickly."

Double D scrambled to the door, and grabbed ahold of the knife the swordsman had thrown. As this occurred, two logs shot forth from below, breaking out of the floor. The flew up into the air above the room.

"Let's see if you can hit them before they fall!" the swordsman shouted.

Double D grunted. He ran forth, knife in hand, and sliced a horizontal slice. The knife accurately hit both of the logs. A moment later, the logs hit the floor, each with a thin, small cut which barely pieced the bark.

Double D looked down, half satisfied at the little power he had.

The ground began to rumble again, much to his surprise.

"More?" he thought.

Two more logs shot out of the ground. This time, they were both on exact opposite sides of him. Double D looked at both as the flew over his head. As he did, he noticed that one flew higher then the other. Double D swung quickly the knife towards the higher one, then slashed to his left as the other one fell, lowering his arm as he cut in order to make the slice. However, in his hasty decision, the cut on the second log was much more weak, only shaving off a piece of bark before the logs fell back down.

The swordsman grunted. "Not very strong, are we?"

Double D focused now. The ground shook a third time. This time, with his focus, he could feel the patch of ground behind himself was where the logs were to emerge. On instinct, he twirled around and held out the knife. A log popped out of the ground, just where he calculated He merely held out his arm as the log was slices when it rose, this time making a more accurate slash with a better, deeper result.

However, Double D also hard two more crashes. Behind him, two logs had already shout out of the air, and were on their way back down to the ground.

"No!" Double D shouted. He twirled about as best as he could, the knife outstretched. It cut through both as they were within inches of hitting the floor. Neither of the logs suffered more then a simple graze before hitting the ground.

When the lag of those two landed, it topped over, falling towards Double D's outstretched arm. Double D instinctively drew back from the log, accidentally dropping the knife in the process, as it fell to the ground and landed blade-down, stabbed into the floor.

"Enough!" shouted the swordsman. He sat back down on his platform. "This training event is over."

Double D nodded, panting already.

"Tired already?" the swordsman asked. "I see... indeed the way of the blade isn't for you."

Double D sighed. "I suppose not."

The swordsman smiled. "You're not bad. Your timing and precision are pretty good, but you just don't have the strength to fight with a sword. You need something else. Something that benefits from your precision and timing..."

Double D tilted his head. "And what do you propose?"

The swordsman got up. "Aha, I know!"

Friday, Day 1: 3:10 PM (62 hours, 50 minutes remain)

"...welcome."

Eddy had entered a dark shop. As far as he could see, from one side of the room to the other, it was filled with bombs and other explosives. Large powder kegs the size of warehouse crates lay at various places across the room. At the far end of the room was a counter, with an older man standing behind it to the left, with smaller merchandise to the right of him.

"Wa-hoo, jackpot!" Eddy shouted, rushing to the counter.

The old man looked up. He was holding a hand-crafted bomb, twirling the fuse of bomb with his fingers. "Oh, hey there kid. What's up?"

Eddy laughed. "Hey pal, how's about you get me some of these here?"

The man shrugged. "Uh, ok. But, do I have to stress how dangerous these are? This is a bomb shop you know."

Eddy shrugged off his warning. "Yeah yeah, blah blah blah."

The shortest of the Eds looked at the items lain out on the counter. The first of which were standard, spherical bombs with a metal casing and fuse on top. Eddy picked this first one up. He was surprised how light it was. He easily threw it up into the air before catching it as it fell.

"Haha, I think I'm getting the hang of this already!" Eddy commented.

Eddy looked at the next item on the counter. It appeared to look more like a machine, with a mouse-like appearance. It had a blue painted front with yellow eyes painted on and a gold plated tail-piece in the back. Underneath it were a series of wheels which seemed to provide it movement.

"What's this doohickey?" Eddy asked, picking it up.

"It's a Bombchu." noted the shopkeeper. "They are programed to explode ten seconds after you set it off. You let it go and it'll move in a strait line until it explodes. It can also scale walls and even work on ceilings."

Eddy held it up above him. As he did, he reached to the eyes of the bombchu. Upon doing so, he felt the eye pieces sink into the machine a centimeter, and a click was heard. The wheels on the bomb starting turning and the machine started glowing red.

"What'd I do, what'd I do!" Eddy shouted.

"You fool!!" the old man got up and jumped over the counter. "Don't let that go off!"

"How do I turn it off?! Gah!" Eddy panicked and twirled his arms, releasing the bombchu, which landed on the floor. Thankfully, it had not landed on it's wheels, instead it landed upside down. The old man dove upon the bomb and grabbed it, quickly pressing the eye button. The machine powered down instantly, causing the wheels to slow to a stop and the glowing to cease.

Eddy sighed in relief.

"Geez that was close." Eddy moaned.

The old man, surprised and horrified, looked at Eddy.

"...so, can I buy something now?" Eddy asked.

"What?!" the bomb shop owner asked. "Are you serious?! You almost set off a bomb in a bomb shop! You almost blew up this whole side of town! I clearly can't trust you with these!"

Eddy groaned. "Aw, c'mon! It was an honest mistake!"

The old man lept back over to the other side of the counter. He paused for a moment.

"Well... fine, but I won't be selling bombchus to you. If you really need bombs, I'll just have to give you the standard model."

Eddy moaned. "Aw..."

The was given a sharp expression from the other side of the counter.

"Ok, ok ok!" Eddy shouted. "I'll take the regular ones!"

The man nodded. "Alright then. For first timers, I have to provide an extra charge for the Bomb Bag, so you'll be able to carry a maximum of 20 regular bombs. That price comes to..." he counted the value on his fingers briefly. "50 rupees total."

"What?!" Eddy shouted. "50?!"

The old man folded his arms. "That's the price."

"But I gotta get some of these things to protect myself, I'm gonna go into Termina Field!"

The old man rubbed his head. "Termina Field? Why? Don't you know how dangerous it is out there?"

"I don't care!" Eddy reiterated himself. "I just need them!"

"I can't give you a discount just because you're traveling."

Eddy moaned. He reached into his pant pockets and dug around. A large cloud of dust, three quarters, fishing string, and a photograph of himself could be found. He took the photo and thrust it onto the counter.

"A picture of my dazzling face." he said with a smirk. "Surely more then enough for a mere bunch-a bombs, wouldn't you agree?"

The old man said nothing, perplexed by the offer.

This rather awkward moment was broken by the sound of a creaking door. Both present turned to see Double D, proceeding into the room. He looked around in two directions for a moment.

"Oh, silly me." Double D noted with a blush. "This isn't the curiosity shop, is it?"

"That's two doors down." The bomb shop owner replied.

"Oops, thanks." Double D said with a wave before turning back. As he turned, Eddy rushed up to him.

"Double D! Help me!" He shouted, grabbing him from behind.

"Uh... with what?" he asked, somewhat dazed.

"I need rupees! 50 of them!"

Double D gasped. "What? I don't have that kind of money!"

Eddy groaned. "Pleaaaaase, I need the cash!"

"What for?"

Eddy looked back into the room. "Bombs! Loads of 'em! With that kind of power I won't need to worry about protection out there on the field."

"I don't know Eddy, that sounds kind of dangerous..."

"PLEASE!" Eddy exclaimed.

"Ok, ok!" Double D shouted. "Come with me for a bit, I'm certain we can find you the cash somehow."

Friday, Day 1: 3:16 PM (62 hours, 44 minutes remain)

"HEY!"

"Come on, get down from there!"

Ed looked about, confused. "Huh? Where are those voices coming from?"

Ed stood high upon a rooftop with the sac of mail, still wearing the postman's hat. A trail of letters which had flown out of the mail bag led a group of irate townsfolk towards Ed.

"It's him!" shouted a carpenter. "That's one of the kids who made that hole in the center of town today!"

"Wasn't that group of kids paired along with the Skull Kid who was causing all sorts of mischief?"

"It's got to be!"

"First he's tearing up the ground and now he's stealing the mail!"

Ed looked down, spotting the mob beneath him. He wove his hand at them carelessly. "Oh, hey there people!"

"Get down from there!" shouted one of the townsmen.

Ed blinked for a moment. "Uh... oh, right."

As he turned to come back down, he noticed a single treasure chest located on the roof of the building. Curiously, he approached it. It was about the size of the bag he was carrying, built mostly of old wood and metal. The amount of rust and decay on the wood suggested that this chest had been atop the roof for years, through rainstorms and blistering hot summer afternoons.

"Uh..." Ed noted at first, staring at the chest. A moment later, he kicked the chest. It broke apart on contact, sending wood shards and brittle pieces of metal shrapnel across the floor. Revealed within the interior of the shattered chest is was only one item, a tiny shiny sliver gem. Ed picked it up and held up the sparkling item.

"Huh?" Ed asked. "Well look at that!"

He gleefully placed it into his pocket, unaware of what precisely this gem was.

With that, he turned back to the mob situated beneath him.

"Ok pal, the jig is up." shouted the East Clock Town guardsman stated, calling from below. "Come down from there, you're trespassing on private property and you're holding federal goods."

"Oops." Ed stated. "Ok, I'm coming down!"

He leapt forth from the top of the roof towards the spectators.

"Wah!" shouted the townspeople, diving out of the way to avoid being crushed by the oafish Ed. He landed on his feet with a loud and tremulous boom. A moment later, he darted away towards the South Clock Town entrance, laughing chaotically. The mob of people stood there, confused at first.

"...what's that guy's deal?" asked the carpenter.

"Hard to say..."

"Hold on!" shouted the guard. "Hurry up and get him! He's getting away!"

Double D and Eddy has just proceeded into South Clock Town from the west exit, towards the ramp to their right.

"So, what are ya doing around here anyway?" Eddy asked. "I thought you went somewhere else."

"Yeah." Double D noted. "I was at the swordsman's place earlier. He told me there was a good weapon I might be able to use, but I'd need to check someplace else to get it. He gave my directions, but..."

Eddy rose an eyebrow. "Huh, sounds kind of shady."

"Doesn't sound any more dangerous then letting you carry around explosives." the sock hat stated.

"Choo choo, coming through!" shouted an incoming voice.

The two looked strait ahead to spot Ed, running west with the increasingly smaller mail bag. As he ran frantically, he seemed to have taken no notice of his two friends. Instead, he turned at the plaza, moving north towards the clock tower.

"They're on my tail!" Ed shouted. In his haste, his green jacket slowly slipped from his torso, until it slid off entirely, just near the entrance of the clock tower.

"Hey Ed!" Eddy called out. "You dropped your-"

A moment later, the mob had caught up, rushing into the district.

"Get him!"

"Catch him before he gets away!"

The two stunned Eds watched as the group chased after him. After the crowd had cleared, they walked towards the jacket which Ed has left behind.

"...um... should we be worried about him?" Double D asked.

"He's Ed, he'll be fine!" Eddy shouted, picking up his jacket.

Double D winced. "Ew, you're actually going to touch that? Do you know where it's been?"

Eddy ignored him. "Maybe we can sell his jacket for cash!"

Double D frowned. "Don't be silly, nobody would buy this."

Eddy reached into the pockets. "There's got to be something he has we can use."

"Please Eddy, don't do that!" Double D shouted, crouched over in disgust at this act.

A moment later, Eddy retrived the small, shiny silver jewel, holding it in front of himself.

"What's this thing?" he asked.

Double D's eyes widened. "Why, that's a silver rupee! Those are worth a lot of money!"

Eddy's expression beamed. "No foolin'?! Enough for the bomb bag?!"

Double D nodded. "That and then some, but that's Ed's, so we probably shouldn't-"

Eddy had rushed ahead and away, back towards West Clock Town, laughing insanely with the rupee in hand.

Double D was left alone, shocked. He sighed and shrugged, then looked towards the direction of the town's laundry pool.

Friday, Day 1: 3:21 PM (62 hours, 39 minutes remain)

The sock-hat arrived at the entrance of the laundry pool. He was familiar with this section of town, and it was a calming place in it's usual quiet feel. He proceeded towards the water side, nearby a bell on a post. He knelt down for a moment, then looks into the pool of water, to look at his own reflection.

"Hm..." he thought aloud. "This does seem a little shady alright. But if this doesn't work, I suppose I could just share the bombs with Eddy."

He looked towards the bell on the sign, which hung there calmly, a small replica of the bell unseen within the clock tower.

After a moment of pondering, he grabbed the rope under the bell and gave it a tug, causing it to ring loudly, echoing in the area around himself.

In the far end of the laundry pool area, a door opened up. Behind it was a familiar looking person, a child with purple hair, his face concealed behind a yellow fox mask. He paused for a moment after exiting, then looked over at Double D.

"You again..." Double D began.

The boy did not seem interested, and began to turn away.

"Hold on!" Double D exclaimed, his voice echoing in this quiet region of the town. "I'm just here for business, that's all."

The boy stopped, facing away from the sock hat.

"...if you want to conduct business, the curiosity shop's front entrance is in west clock town. And it's not open until 10 PM."

Double D took a step forward. "Yes, but I must be traveling quickly. I was just wondering if you have something."

"Something?"

"The swordsman..." began Double D. "He ordered a rare object, and I'm here to pick it up."

The child said nothing at first. He then turned to look towards Double D. He then gestured towards the bell sign. "...wait here."

With that, he proceeded towards the door and walked inside. Double D stood alone, outside, for what seemed like a few minutes.

"I'm not sure about this..." he thought. "The curiosity shop is pretty shady. According to rumor I've heard across town, this place often sells stolen goods. They'd polish or refine these goods to make them look different, then release them under the guise of being a shop of curios. In short, it's a black market..."

The door reopened again. The boy stood there, holding a lantern. It was a strange item, designed in a gothic style with arched mini-windows. The metal was black in color, and made of a strange material Double D had never seen before. He knelt down to examine the bizarre item. He then looked back up at the child.

"A lantern...?"

The child nodded. "There's no mistake, this is the swordsman's order."

"How is this meant to be a weapon?" Double D asked, accepting the lantern and holding it.

"A weapon?" asked the kid, perplexed. "This is an artifact from Ikana Canyon. These are ancient lamps used by people from a society long past away. Legend has it they are used by specters that roam that forgotten land, called Poes. Some legends even claim they house souls of those whom they belonged to. I can't say why the Swordsman wanted it, but evidently he saw it as valuable."

Double D held the lantern for a moment. "The swordsman said he would allow me to use it for a weapon. But... it's so fragile. How can it be used as one?"

The boy shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know."

Friday, Day 1: 3:45 PM (62 hours, 15 minutes remain)

Ed rushed into the post office. The postman, who had been taking a nap in his bed at the time, jumped out from under the covers. There Ed stood at the far end of the room, completely out of breath, panting heavily. He threw the now empty mail bag into the room before collapsing onto the ground.

"Whoa pal!" the postman shouted, walking towards Ed. "Are you alright?"

Ed was too out of breath to reply. He pointed to the empty mail sac instead, his arm lazily flopping onto the floor.

"Well..." the postman began. "...at least it seems like you were able to deliver all the mail."

Ed once again could not respond with the truth, trying too hard to re-obtain his breath.

The postman signed and placed his hand on his head. "Alright, alright. I guess a deal's a deal. I'll see what I have in storage for you to use along your way."

Friday, Day 1: 3:47 PM (62 hours, 13 minutes remain)

Eddy arrived at the Bomb shop. He raced towards the counter, manically slamming the silver rupee onto top.

"Ok pal, I got your rupees right here!" Eddy proclaimed. "Now gimme gimme gimme!"

The old man glanced at the rupee, then gasped.

"Ah wow, that's worth a hundred rupees!" he accepted the rupee, then placed the bomb bag onto the table, prepared and stocked with 20 fresh bombs within. "Here you are, one standard bag."

Eddy picked up the bag and hauled it over his back.

"Whew, didn't expect these to be so light!" he claimed. "What do you know?"

The old man looked a little concerned about this. "Just be careful with these, ok? They're very dangerous and-"

"Yeah yeah, I can handle it." Eddy said. He turned around and began to walk away from the room. "Later!"

Eddy proceeded out of the room. As he did, unknown to him, one of the bombs which he was carrying dropped from the top of the bag and fell back down to the floor. It rolled across the room and towards the larger explosive kegs in the room, whacking a shelf. A spark cast forth from the impact, igniting the bomb. It began to fizzle and come to life.

The old man gasped, leaping over his counter. "Oh NO!!"

Friday, Day 1: 4:00 PM (62 hours remain)

Around the first indications of the sunset, Link had gone to the Milk Bar. He waited inside, sitting at the counter. Tatl was nearby, resting atop his green hat, half asleep.

"You'll need to clear out soon." the bartender reminded him whilst mopping the floors. "At 6 I'll need to close temporarily so I can set up for the midnight clientele."

"Don't worry, we'll be gone soon." Tatl stated, half asleep.

The door to the Milk Bar opened. It was at the top of a flight of stairs, thus Link had to turn to see who it was. Eddy had arrived, walking downstairs with the bomb bag in tow. He arrived at the counter and sat atop one of the stools.

"I got what I needed!" he shouted proudly, revealing the bag.

"Hey, hey!" began the bartender, noticing the bag. "We don't allow those in here. You're going to have to leave those somewhere else, but I can't have them in the bar."

"Aw, calm down pal, we're just gonna be a minute!" Eddy shouted, irately. "Sheeeeesh!"

"But sir, I-"

At that moment, Double D proceeded downstairs as well. He was surrounded, oddly enough, with a strange light with a slightly purple tint. He held the lantern he received as he moved downstairs, then set it on the counter before sitting down himself.

"What's that supposed to be?" asked Eddy.

"It's a Poe's Lantern." Tatl stated, amazed. "Whoa, where did you find that? It's very rare!"

"I got it from the Swordsman and the purple-haired child from the Curiosity Shop."

"Purple haired child..." Eddy began. "Where have I seen someone like that before...?"

"Well, no matter." Link said. "All we need now is Ed, then we can go."

The group members glanced at one another, somewhat worried.

Friday, Day 1: 4:15 PM (61 hours, 45 minutes remain)

"Uh..." Link droned, looking around.

Double D was currently writing in his Bomber's Notebook, filling out the details of his travels thusfar.

"And so," he wrote, "I traveled to the Milk Bar, and met the others. Here, I began to wait..."

Tatl was buzzing about the room, pacing in the air impatiently.

"Gimme another drink!" Eddy shouted to the bartender.

Friday, Day 1: 4:30 PM (61 hours, 30 minutes remain)

"Hm....."

"And wait for... what I document to be a half hour so far."

Tatl continued to buzz around the room.

"Guh.... another... drink..."

Friday, Day 1: 4:45 PM (61 hours, 15 minutes remain)

"Hmmmmmmmm..."

"Fourty five minutes now. My hand is going numb."

"Buuuuuzzzzzzzz...."

"...another... one... on... the rocks..."

"Sir, you're out of rupees. And please stop acting drunk, it's just milk."

Friday, Day 1: 5:12 PM (60 hours, 48 minutes remain)

"........"

"I will cease writing, for I fear this pencil has run out of graphite."

Tatl was now fast asleep on Link's hat.

"Guuuuuuuuhhghhh...."

"Ok sir..." the Bartender began. "You have stayed long enough. Please take that bomb bag out of here now or I will have to kick you out."

The door to the Bar burst open abruptly. Ed came flying into the room. He now had on his back, what appeared to be an arrow quiver. He lept forth energetically, sitting on one of the stools with a dramatic thud. Eddy, Double D, Link, and Tatl all sprung back into being alert from a state of semi-consciousness.

"Hey guys!" Ed shouted.

"Where in sam hill have you been?" Double D asked.

"Yeah, it's almost dark!" Tatl barked. "We need to get out of here and to the swamp before nightfall and all of those nocturnal monsters come out!"

"Nocturnal what now?" Ed asked.

"...nice hat." Link commented, noting that Ed was still wearing the Postman's uniform hat.

Eddy tilted his head and looked over at Ed's quiver. "What do you have there lumpy?"

Ed looked behind himself. "Oh yeah! Check it out guys!"

He reached behind himself, then drew two items from the quiver. From within, he retrieved two ordinary looking sticks and held them out dramatically, as though they were swords.

Everyone present looked at Ed.

"You..." Double D began.

"...wasted..." Eddy continued.

"...All of our time..." Tatl chimed in.

"For sticks?" Link finished.

Ed nodded. "Uh huh!"

"Deku Sticks to be precise." Double D noted.

Link sighed. "...I guess it's something."

Double D closed the notebook and placed it back into his inventory. Link and Tatl jumped up from their seats and Eddy also got up groggily, picking up the bomb bag.

"Let's get going." Eddy said. He shoved the many cups of milk he had emptied to the side of the counter.

"Finally!" proclaimed one exhausted bartender.

As the group exited the bar, they came to the sight of a group of citizens and gaurdsmen, all crowded around the door.

"That's him!" a carpenter shouted, pointing at Ed. "He was the one who was trespassing on the rooftops!"

The group, surprised, turned to look at Ed.

Further cries came from the crowd of people.

"That tall one stole my treasured rupee! And my toast!"

"The short one blew up my store! My entire place, gone!"

"Yeah, and it tore open a hole in the trading post!"

"My Toast, mind you!!"

"They took my mail bag and my hat and scattered important letters all over town!"

"They also left the hole right in the middle of the construction site!"

"MY TOAST!"

Double D frantically turned to Eddy and Ed. "Guys, what did you do?!"

"I didn't do nothin'!" Eddy shouted in protest.

"We already took you to the mayor, and this is what happens?" one of the guardsmen asked. "This time we won't be so generous. This time you guys are going to jail!"

"......"

"Run away!" shouted Ed, before bolting towards the town exit.

"Waaaaaaaaaah!!" Eddy shouted, rushing behind his friend.

"Wait for me!" Tatl exclaimed, she and Link rushing away.

Double D paused in fear for a moment, glancing at the mob, then at the east exit of town.

"...well, I'd love to stay, but... I'm sorry!"

The sock hat made a run for the exit as well.

"Hurry!" the postman shouted. "After them!"

"Wait, look!" the bomb shop owner shouted.

The townspeople looked down to notice that Eddy had, once again, dropped a single bomb unintentionally. It had lit up on impact and was burning away it's fuse.

"RUN!" shouted the trading post shopkeeper.

The crowd dispersed, screaming as the explosive went off in a fiery burst, blowing apart the tiled ground and sending smoke and shrapnel in all visible directions. A few moments had to wait for the debris to clear, leaving those closest to the blast coated with soot. They looked at one another, then at the exit.

"...they got away..."

"Curse those boys!" shouted the bomb shop owner, shaking off the soot.

"Don't worry." the bartender said, coming out of the Milk Bar, holding his mop like a pitchfork. "I overheard that those guys were going to Termina Field. They'll be driven back into town when the monsters prove too tough. When they do, we ambush them."

Author's Notes: Well then, that concludes this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to more!