Disclaimer: I think I don't own the Legend of Zelda series but I'm not sure
Day 1, Midnight, Laundry Pool
Link and Tatl entered the Laundry Pool after hearing a very familiar cry coming from the place. The last time they were here, Link and Tatl were in a rush because of the Bombers' game, but now, with more time in their hands, they could take in the layout of the small area.
Down the small ramp that led to the place, right in front of them, was the pool where Link first learned about Dekus hopping on water, where they got the broken Great Fairy piece. The pool was surrounded by a small garden with a single tree – under which Link and Tatl stood – and an equally small bridge to the other side of the pool, with a bell on its edge and a house to the far right.
Of course, it's hard to process all of this when someone is playing a music box right next to you.
"Once upon a time, I met some pets
Our nights were as real as it gets"
What's all this "pet night" talk…
"Soon a group we formed, a society
Friends together sharing the same reality
But though in the food chain, men are top dogs
This time the leader was literally a dog!
Why the dog and not me?
Why am I not leader of this society?!"
This song is dangerously skinning through manifesto territory by the minute…
"So I did it. What, you ask?
I stole the dog's mask!
But I am overcome with guilt
So here you are, it's yours to keep"
"W-What?" Link asked, after the man pushed onto him a mask of an eagle-like bird with very serious eyes.
"This is the Bremen Mask
It serves a simple task
Just put it on and play a melody
Your animal buddies will mature quickly"
"Your rhymes are getting lazier and lazier, old man," Tatl stated, unimpressed.
"Yeah, I agree. Maybe you should try something more raw or something," Link concluded, but was thoroughly ignored by the man, his music box and happy smile face.
Fine, Vanilla Ice, do whatever you want. "So, Tatl, what next?"
"Well, we WERE about to check out the swamp before you strayed off the path."
"Fine, let's bounce."
"Sure!" Tatl said, bouncing against Link's head and laughing.
I swear one of these days I'm gonna…
Night dragged on as the stars, like silent guardians, slowly patrolled around the dusk skies. Hellbent on solving their rather pesky predicament, our heroes finally set foot outside Clock Town, facing a bigger world, with bigger obstacles… and, hopefully, a big ass reward.
Link and Tatl got past the guard at the South Gate, who could do little but stare at Link's sword, recognizing him silently as a man of independent will and strength.
Day 1, After midnight, Termina Field
And then, Termina.
As soon as they set foot outside, our legendary duo could see a vast grass field in front of them. Tall patches, stray logs and sporadic groups of trees decorated the southernmost area of Termina Field, and, from where he was standing, Link could also see the Observatory; making him remember when he was standing on the opposite side of the fence, gazing upon the field from the dome's bars.
"Well, this certainly looks like a field," Tatl stated, breaking the silence.
"Gee, you think?"
"Be careful of those Blue Bubbles though," Tatl said, pointing towards the aforementioned creatures. Blue Bubbles were creatures that roamed around Termina Field at night. They were composed by a cranium of some sort of dragon-like creature and a blue flame enveloping them. "One touch from those and you're jinxed."
"Jinxed?" As in "turning into a Deku for three whole days"?
"Yep. I dunno what'll happen, but you'll be jinxed."
"Well, what—" Link cut Tatl off and turned forward to step, only to bang his head against a Blue Bubble that spotted him.
"FUCK! RUN!" Link screamed, doing backflips to put some distance between him and the creature, who promptly chased after him.
Ok, now I've got you, small punk. Have a taste of this blad—
The Bubble hit again.
"Link! What the hell's wrong with you?! Just slash him up!" Tatl screamed from behind.
"I… I can't! My sword…" Link managed to say.
"Your sword what?!"
"I can't draw it!" Link screamed, jumping to the side to avoid another tackle from the Bubble.
"What do you m—OH!" Suddenly, a thought hit Tatl, "Link! You're jinxed!"
"Oh unholy son of a…" Another tackle, another dodge.
I can't keep running in circles like this! Don't suppose I have any other weapons though…
Link and the Bubble were engaged in a chase, with Tatl agitatedly shuffling around. As the Hylian boy rolled and jumped around, he racked his brain for any possible means of hitting the floating menace after him.
Maybe if I just run like hell he'll get tired of chasing after me…!
And this he did. Link started rolling and running to his left – also left from the gate – and putting more and more distance between him and the Bubble.
Soon enough, the monster strayed off and went back to his business, leaving a wheezing Link to himself… and a very amused fairy.
"Hahahahahahaha, what a chicken! That's the 'Hero of Time' for you, huh?!"
"Grrrrrrr… you stupid-!"
"What? Gonna draw your sword? Oh wait! You can't! Hahahaha!"
"…" I'm jinxed alright. This yellow floating Russian is my eternal jinx.
Link looked down at his feet, only to notice something strange.
"Wait. There's snow beneath me." He looked around, and noticed that he wasn't at the forest anymore; rather, he was on top of a ledge, a snowy ledge, facing a snow mountain and a very snowy wasteland down below, decorated by tall "mushroom" rocky platforms.
"Huh. You don't say." Tatl stated, and floated a bit higher to get a clear view of the area.
"This is one weird place," Link said, looking around.
"Link," Tatl floated down, "It seems this place is divided in four halves, one for each of the sectors I told you about. The halves are sort of 'themed' by their section."
"You mean this is the Mountain half of Termina Field?"
"Yes. Right over there is the North Clock Town gate. In your hurry, you left the swamp half and passed through the Canyon half as well, which would stand for the East portion."
"But is this even geographically possible, to have four different ecosystems slapped together like this?"
"Well we ARE in an alternate dimension."
I-It's not that simple!
Their interesting chat was, however, interrupted. A sad melody took over their ears, and, startled, both of them looked towards the source of the sound.
On top of one of the mushroom... rock... uh, platforms, almost near the ledge, stood a sheet-white figure, dancing to the sad, weeping tune it sang.
What in the name of…
Link and Tatl moved towards the figure, Link making a jump for it.
"Excuse m—"
"I HAVE DIED"
"WHOA!" Link stumbled backwards, startled by the baritone voice coming from the figure. This guy sounds like an opera tenor! Where's all this voice coming from?
"OH MOON I HAVE FUCKING DIED"
"WE GET THE PICTURE!" Tatl yelled back, but to no avail.
"I JUST WANTED TO DANCE BUTT-NAKED FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD"
N-Not only he's loud, he's also profane…
"CAN SOMEBODY HEAL MY SORROWS"
Heal my ears first!
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" The figure started to cry and wail, much to our heroes' dismay.
"TATL, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!"
"I DON'T KNOW! I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK!"
"I'LL PLAY THE SONG OF HEALING!"
"WHY?"
"WELL HE DID SAY HE NEEDED HEALING!"
"B-BUT…!"
"OR AT LEAST HE'LL GET DISTRACTED AND SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Amidst all the wailing and crying, Link whipped his ocarina out and blew on the instrument as hard as he could, but the notes still went unnoticed amongst the uproar.
"THAT DIDN'T GO SO WELL!" Tatl yelled, then noticed Link reaching for something… "LINK…?"
Before she could finish, Link put on the Deku Mask and sent out his Deku Pipes as quickly as he could. Putting a lot of effort this time, the instrument barely matched the volume of the baritone voice, but it seemed to work anyway. For a few moments, the figure stopped, enveloped in a trance, and then… Gone.
A blank mask with the figure's face on top of it fell to the floor, and Link could hear a very acute voice whispering…
"…Thank you. Teach my dance to the world… this is the Kamaro Mask…"
"… I need a vacation," Link muttered under his breath, reaching for the mask.
He then thought to put it on, which proved to be a bad idea. As soon as the mask touched his face, it fitted itself and Link started dancing, as if his body had a will of its own.
W-What's going on?!
Tatl couldn't even say anything, her laughter echoing around.
How is… what… I… m-my body…!
Swirling, spinning, tiptoeing and moving around in a ballet fashion, Link tried anything in his power to make the madness stop, but to no avail; even though his mind screamed for freedom, his muscles all followed one command: to dance.
"That's what he meant by 'spreading' huh?!" Tatl managed to say, between laughs.
"Can you pl—" Link said, only to shut his lips together after realizing his voice was incredibly high-pitched.
Tatl dropped to the floor, almost fainting from the full-course meal of laughter she just had, while Link danced madly about with his possessed body and forcefully shut lips.
"How am I supposed to get out of this funk?!" Link said in his "unique" voice.
"This 'funk'! Ahahahahaha! Oh god… here, allow me," Tatl said, floating towards him and pressing herself against the edge of the mask, decorated by Kamaro's face. Eventually, she pushed the mask off, and Link fell to the floor, tired and relieved at the same time.
"For crying out loud, every mask I find leaves me worse than the previous," he complained, "At this rate I'll be dead within the next few days."
"Well we only have three, you know."
"True enough. So, should we backtrack to the swamp?"
"Actually, I was wondering," Tatl started, "Since we are already right in front of the North gate and all, maybe we could talk to the Great Fairy? Maybe she has some advice…"
"We already helped her once", Link argued, "It's highly unlikely that she'll have anything more useful for us. Besides, we reset time, right? She'd have to be shattered again."
"It's not like you don't know where the piece is…"
"Um, true."
"So let's go!"
"Oh bother… okay, okay…" Always the bossy one…
Day 1, Almost dawn, Clock Town – North
Our heroes entered Clock Town once again, as the night reached its final moments and the morning of the next day came crawling.
"Alright, so the part was in the Laundry Pool, right?" Link asked.
"Good memory. Floating above the pool," Tatl replied.
"Okay, let's get a move on then."
Day 1, Almost dawn, Laundry Pool
Link and Tatl walked down the ramp leading to the Laundry Pool, ignoring completely the music box man, and the Hylian boy ran towards the actual pool, hoping to find the broken piece of the Great Fairy…
… Only to be faced with a "fairy-less" body of water.
"WHAT?!" he screamed, startling the old man to the point of dropping his box.
"The piece's not there!"
Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me… "Now what?!"
"Um… Let's split up and see who finds it first!"
"What do you think this is, Scooby-Doo?! Do you even know if it's still in town?"
"Link, just do it! Head east and I'll head west, we've been already to North and South and didn't find it!"
"Man oh man…" Link muttered, angry, "I told you not to come back to town…"
Day 1, Damn near morning, Clock Town – East
Link reached East Clock Town covering his ears, due to the Clock Tower's bell loudly announcing the incoming morning.
Every kind of clock in here seems out to get me… Huh?
Looking forward, towards the Stock Pot Inn outside, right next to the veranda…
… The fairy piece.
Hey! There you are!
Link paced towards the floating fairy, only to realize it was too high to reach. Fortunately, there was a Deku Plant nearby, and Link promptly put his Deku Mask on, burrowing underground and launching himself towards the sky as he did so many times before.
He reached for the fairy, carefully gliding towards his goal, and then, as he was about to gather his prize…
Day 2, Morning, Clock Town – East
… The fairy was gone.
"…"
Link carefully landed on the Stock Pot Inn veranda, and, still stoic and in a first-class denial, walked towards the edge, looking down on the floor.
… It's too bad that I'm so close to the ground, otherwise I'd just jump…
"HEY!" a voice rang, and Link jerked his head to the side to see Tatl beside him.
"Huh?"
"Did you find it? And what's with the Deku Mask?"
"Yes, I did find it, the Deku Mask was to reach the fairy, which was floating in midair."
"Oh!" Tatl beamed, "So let's just br—"
"The fairy vanished."
"W-What do you mean vanished?! She just disappeared?"
"Yeah, and right in front of my face too."
"… Boy, you really are something else with this bad luck of yours."
Tell me about it.
"Well, let's go to Termina Field. I have a feeling we won't be reassembling fairies today…" Tatl said.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Link replied, removing the Deku Mask and standing up, only to realize something. "…Hey. My wallet."
"Your wallet?"
"Yeah, my Rupee wallet. I think I dropped it somewhere…" Not that I had that many Rupees to be so worried about losing it…
"Let's retrace your steps then, see if we can find it."
"Sure. But hey," a thought hit Link, and he said, "We've wasted enough time already, maybe we should take our time and then reset again before going to the swamp."
"You mean back to the first day?"
"Yeah, when else? The first Thanksgiving?"
"Dude, chill, are you PMSing or something? Let's go."
Like you're one to talk!
Day 2, Morning, Laundry Pool
As soon as they reached the Laundry Pool, both looking very glum and slowly walking in a depressed manner, Link and Tatl realized that the music box man wasn't there anymore.
Probably got complaints and went back to his room… I mean, we did find him there on the last day.
"L-LINK!" Tatl screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH! What the fuck, Tatl?!"
"L-Look over there…!"
"What are you t—" Link stopped mid-sentence, then looked forward to see…
... The fairy piece, right where he found it the very first time.
"…" I'm not going. This is another prank.
"What are you waiting for, Link?! Go get it!"
"…"
"Link!"
"…"
"Okay, okay, I'll fetch you 40 Rupees, now go for it, goddamnit!"
"…Okay." I wasn't even thinking about it, and it still worked.
Link put his Deku Mask on, hopped across the pool and got the piece, just like old times. Tatl found his wallet next to the tree and gave it back to him – with 40 Rupees inside – and they went back to the North, hoping to finally put this miserable task aside.
Day 2, Morning, Great Fairy's Shrine
The reassembled Great Fairy stared at our heroes.
"Well, well… so you are the one who brought me back to my original form, hmm?"
"Yup," Link replied, way more relaxed than the first time.
"I have to say, it's been a while since I last saw a Hylian", she said, noticing Link's pointy ears, trademarks of the Hylian race, "It's quite refreshing."
Is she hitting on me? "Um, Great Fairy? I was wondering… we know about the Skull Kid and how he… shattered… you."
"Oh, that was quite unfortunate."
"We're on his trail, and we're about to go south for the swamp. Do you have anything to help us? Anything, really."
"Oh, I'm afraid I don't think I have. I could give you the Great Fairy Mask, though, just as a "thank you" gift."
"Um… what does it do?" Tatl asked.
"I do not know," The Great Fairy replied, "But please accept it."
She, then, materialized a mask with her face (shocker!) and gave it to Link.
Another fucking mask! What's with all the masks?!
"Oh, you seem weary. Allow me to fix that…" The Great Fairy said, enveloping Link and Tatl in a magical veil, giving energy back to them. "Now… be careful out there. The swamp is a very dangerous place by nature, and now that such a thing has happened to it, I fear…"
"'Such a thing'?" Tatl interrupted.
"Oh, didn't you hear? The Woodfall region, which encompasses the swamp, has been cursed."
"As in…?" Link asked.
"I'm afraid I do not have the details, but the local temple has been taken by a monster, it seems."
"Oh, great." As if we don't have enough on our hands.
"Thanks, Great Fairy. We'll be careful, I promise!" Tatl happily exclaimed.
It's like mother and daughter…
"I have faith in you two. You possess an aura of… courage, and a powerful spirit. Just keep your wits about you, and you two shall be fine."
And with that, she left two freshly renewed heroes behind, leaving the shrine with their chests puffed.
Outside, Link took the Ocarina of Time and played the Song of Time.
"Tomorrow" was swamp day.