Hey guys!

So, um, yeah, some of you probably noticed that yesterday I posted a new story called Shinobi to Knight right?

Yeah, let's just say that was way more popular than I thought it would originally be.

*Relic flies in carrying a few notes with wide eyes and whispers something in my ear, making me go wide eyed*

That many faves already? *She nods*

Well damn, that's way more than this one.

Doesn't mean I'm gonna drop it though, no worries people *Relic nods with a smile*

Now then.

Let's get this show on the road! *Relic cheers*

But before that.

WARNING!

From this point on the story will take a darker tone.

Case in point, this arc will contain themes of death and deppresion.

Viewer discretion is advised.

Gyro and Ruby were currently walking through a foggy forest in early morning on the back of Epona.

Ruby had brought up the idea the previous day, about how they could go and do something that couples do, something like a date.

Gyro couldn't say no to her obviously, and decided that they could go for a horseback ride in the early morning.

They were going forward in a comfortable silence, Ruby sitting in front of Gyro and leaning into him.

They didn't notice they were being observed.

Suddenly, Epona reared up without warning, throwing the two off her back and making them crash into the ground in a confused daze.

They didn't see the two fairies, one pale yellow and the other dark purple, that had scared Epona.

Nor did they see the young child that appeared, dressed like a scarecrow and with an evil looking mask on his face.

The child lifted his mask up as he peered at Gyro and Ruby ''Hee hee, you two fairies did great! I wonder if they have anything good on them?''

The child walked towards the two of them and started to look through Gyro's pouch, before pulling out his ocarina.

''Ooh! What a pretty ocarina... Hey, Skull Kid, lemme touch it! I wanna see!'' said the purple fairy in a boy's voice.

As the fairy moved towards the ocarina, the other one shoved him away ''You can't Tael! What would we do if you dropped it and broke it? No way! You can't touch it!'' it said in a girl's voice.

The purple fairy pouted ''Aww, but, sis... why can't I try it out too?''

The bickering of the two fairies served to rouse Gyro and Ruby, making them get up with a groan.

The two looked at the child as they stood to their feet, Gyro clearing his throat and catching the attention of all three of them as they slowly turned around.

When Gyro saw the child's face, his eyes widenned upon laying them on the mask.

That was Majora's mask.

The child realised he had been caught and tried to play it off and hide the ocarina behind his back ''So, um, nice weather we're having right?''

Gyro would have none of that.

He shot his hand forward to grab the child, but the little one was slippery, shooting upwards before landing back on Epona and slamming a hand into her flank to make her shoot forward.

Thinking quickly, Gyro grabbed onto his leg as Epona started running, dragging him along the ground as Ruby started running to make sure they don't lose them.

The chase continued on like this for a few more minutes until they took a sharp turn and the child proceeded to push his boot into Gyro's face with his free leg, finally succeeding in making him let go as he rolled across the ground.

''Gyro!'' Ruby said in concern as she went to her boyfriend's side and helped him stand back up.

Gyro shook his head as he regained his bearings ''Come on, we gotta go after him.''

Ruby nodded and followed him as they chased after the child.

They had to a bit of platform jumping as they jumped highed by using tree stumps to get to a higher ledge and entered into what looked to be a cavern inside of a tree.

Gyro suddenly skidded to a halt as before him all that lay was a deep dark chasm.

He sighed in relief at having avoided falling in before Ruby slammed into his back, making the two of them tip over the edge as he muttered out ''Of course it's never easy.''

The two started falling down the chasm, Ruby flailing around a bit until Gyro grabbed her and held her close to him.

As they fell the two encountered something unexpected.

Flashing lights of a multitude of colors surrounded them, blinded them, as they descended further and futher into the chasm.

Gyro knew what this was.

It was the gateway to Termina.

After what felt like an eternity of falling, they landed on what appeared to be a large pink flower, floating on top of a small puddle.

As they got up, it was almost as if spotlights had been turned on, illuminating the whole area, and allowing them to see the child foating in he air a few feet in front of them, tauntingly.

''What's with that stupid horse of yours?! It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it. There's no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favor and got rid of it... hee, hee...'' the child told them, Gyro's eyes narrowing in anger and Ruby's widenning in sadness.

''No...'' Ruby whispered sadly.

''Aww, boo hoo, why the sad face? I just though I'd have a little fun with you guys...'' Gyro was reaching for the Tempered Master Sword, which he had summoned to his back, and Ruby was reaching around for Waxing Rose ''Oh, come now... do you really think you can beat me as I am now? You fools!''

His mask started to shake as a malicious aura seemed to seep out of it and into Gyro and Ruby, making them clutch their heads in pain.

Inside their minds, Gyro and Ruby were somehow both sharing their mindscape, as they were suddenly surrounded by a large group of deku scrubs.

Gyro took Ruby's hand and started running, being chased by the scrubs.

Then, a giant deku scrub appeared, and it sucked them into it's mouth as it breathed in.

Back in the real world, Gyro and Ruby had been changed.

The two of them had been turned into deku scrubs, Gyro appeared to be wearing a small green kilt around his waist, smaller versions of his boots and gloves, his hair seemed to be made of dried leaves and he was wearing his cap.

As for Ruby, she was wearing a black dress with a red trim, small black boots, her usual hood, and her hair seemed to be made of rose petals.

The child laughed as the two of then looked at themselves in confusion and fear. ''Now, that's a good look for you two! You'll both stay here looking like that forever!''

It continued to laugh as it flew backwards, the wooden door behind it sliding up to let him pass.

Gyro noticed this and quickly tried to run after him, but the female fairy stopped him by bumping him on the head.

The child went passed the wooden door, Tael noticing his sister wasn't following them and turning around to call out to her ''Sis!'' but the door closed, cutting them off.

The female fairy turned around quickly, rushing up to the door as Ruby finally walked up to Gyro, equal parts confused and afraid.

''Gyro... what happened to us?'' she asked him, a small hint of fear creeping into her voice.

Gyro hugged her ''I don't understand it either Ruby, but I know we'll get through this together.''

Ruby nodded and hugged him back, his words managing to comfort her slightly.

''You!'' shouted the fairy, getting Gyro and Ruby's attention as she flew into Gyro's face ''If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten seperated from my brother!'' Gyro just gave her a blank stare ''Well, don't just sit there, Deku boy! Do something!'' this time both Gyro and Ruby gave her a dry stare ''...Why are you both looking at me like that? What, is there something stuck on my face?'' she shook her head ''Will you two just stop staring and just open the door already?! Please! Come on, a helpless little girl is asking you... So hurry up!''

Gyro muttered under his breath as he walked up to the door ''Helpless, my ass...''

He gave it a small kick and it rised up, letting him and Ruby pass, the fairy trailing along slowly.

They came upon a small chasm, a large pink flower in front of them.

As Gyro was about to step on the flower, the fairy flew up to his face, looking a little nervous.

''Hey, wait for me! Don't leave me behind! So, um... that stuff back there... I... um... aplogize, so... So take me with you!'' she said.

Gyro put a hand to his chin in thought, Ruby mimicking him just for the heck of it.

''You wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right? Well, I just so happen to have an of where he might be going. Take me with you, and I'll help you out, deal?'' the fairy asked the two of them.

Gyro and Ruby looked to one another before shrugging, turning back to the fairy ''Deal.'' said Gyro.

The fairy nodded ''Good, so then it's settled. Now then, I'll be your partner... or at least until we catch that Skull Kid... My name's Tatl. So, uh, it's nice to meet you, or whatever.''

Ruby interrupted for a moment ''Your name's Tatl and your brother is named Tael?'' at the fairy's nod Ruby groaned ''That sounds like one of Yang's bad puns, I swear if she ever names her kids after a pun I will punch her.''

The fairy shrugged, not knowing who Ruby was talking about ''Now that we've got all that straightened out, can we stop messing around and get moving? If I figure someting out, I'll let you know. Hopefully you'll be able to manage without my help until then!''

Gyro and Ruby turned to each other while shaking their heads with a shrug.

Ruby was trying to figure out how to advance forward, since their semblances didn't seem to work in their new forms, until Gyro told her to step off the flower, as he knew what to do, so doing what he asked, she moved to the side as she watched Gyro step on it and suddenly spin before burrowing into the flower, making the top close up as it let out a small puff of smoke about a second later.

A second later, Gyro shot out from the flower into the air and started gliding across the gap while holding onto a pair of spinning flowers.

Quickly getting the idea, Ruby attempted to copy him, and she managed to do so, gliding across with her own flowers.

Interestingly, Gyro held onto sunflowers while gliding, while she held onto roses.

After gliding across, the group of three walked through a door which led them into a large room that had a few platforms with the flowers again.

Ruby titled her head when a thought came to mind ''Hey Gyro, do these flowers have a name?''

Gyro turned to her and nodded as he stepped on one of them ''Yeah, they're called Deku Flowers.''

Ruby nodded and followed her boyfriend, Tatl also following silently.

When they reached the exit of the room, they all noticed something, two short dead trees that seemed to have faces on them.

Ruby looked at one of them before looking at herself ''You know, I can't help but feel that I look like this tree.''

Gyro didn't say a word, if he'd still have his normal face, his lips would be set into thin line as he looked upon the trees, shifting his eyes to Ruby ever so slightly 'Should I tell her?' he questionned himself.

Ruby had noticed that Gyro hadn't said anything and was startign to get worried, even Tatl felt a little unnerved by the silence ''Gyro? Is something wrong?''

Gyro internally nodded to himself ''Tatl, you probably have a good idea about what happened to these 'trees' right?''

Tatl didn't say anything for a moment before nodding grimly ''I have my suspicions, sadly.''

Ruby rose an invisible eyebrow at them ''Guys? What are you talking about?'' she asked a little unsure.

Gyro turned to her, his eyes reflecting grief ''Ruby, the reason you feel that way in regards to the tree... is because it was once a deku scrub.''

Ruby went silent for a few moments, before silently uttering ''What?''

Gyro looked at both 'trees' ''Both of these trees were once deku scrubs, the reason you feel some familiarity with one of them is because your current form is based on hers, and... most likely it was the Skull Kid that did this, who changed them into these and then put their souls into us, giving us forms similar to theirs.''

As Gyro continued to speak, Ruby got progressively sadder, until at the end she was openly crying ''S-so these are t-their c-c-corpses?'' she said through a few hiccups.

Gyro nodded grimly as Ruby hugged and started crying onto his shoulder.

He'd never wanted to expose her to death in this way, but it seemed fate at other plans in store.

Termina was a dark place, a sad place, filled with equal parts grief and despair.

And it was not where he would have wanted Ruby to ever have to go.

Tatl felt bad for the poor girl, it was obvious she'd never truly seen death up close like this before, although from the way the boy appeared, his demeanor, he had probably expereinced it, maybe even had taken his first kill for all she knew, so she descended on Ruby's head and started to rub it soothingly with her small hands.

After a few minutes, Ruby managed to compose herself, she wanted to something for the two scrubs whose appearances they had taken, until she had an idea.

She'd noticed a few small flowers scattered around and set about collecting each and everyone of them, before bringing them back to the trees and placing some on them and around them.

If Ruby had her original face right, she'd be smiling at her work ''There, at the very least, they'll have a grave of sorts, covered in the flowers.''

Gyro put a hand on her shoulder ''It's perfect Ruby, I'm sure they'd appreciate the gesture.''

Ruby nodded and took hold of Gyro's hand as the two continued onwards, entering a strange room that just seemed to spiral around, until they stepped through an open door which closed slowly behind them.

Ruby looked at the new area they were in, it looked like the inside of some kind of old machine.

She followed Gyro up the ramp that led to the main floor.

They walked up the steps to the door, before they froze, hearing a voice behind them speak.

''You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?''

And there we go!

*Relic was pouting while pointing at the screen*

Hey, it was a good cliffhanger and a nice place to stop for now, besides, I want to cover the first three days in one chapter.

*Relic continued to pout intil she relented with a sigh, nodding her head*

Now then, as the warning at the beginning states, the story is getting darker from this point on, and this arc will deal with themes of death, depression, greef, loss, and every other negative emotion you can think of.

You're probably going to see a lot of things you won't expect from here on out, heck I'm sure a lot of you were a bit shocked at Gyro revealing to Ruby about the deku scrub trees, but in my mind, it needed to be done.

Things will not be getting brighter from here on out though, only worse, until they finally leave Termina and return to Remnant.

*Relic frowned at this but nodded*

Now then.

Read, Review, Don't be a dick, and have a nice day everyone.

See you all next time.