NOW we've hit 300 reviews. Congratulations, Link Fangirl101, for being it!

(Please don't hurt me...)

Why would I do that? You were celebrating missed and future milestones, there's no need to get angry over a skipped disclaimer if that's the case.

(You're being surprisingly reasonable.)

Gotta keep you off balance somehow. Now... the author does not own the Legend of Zelda. In that world, the argument over Wind Waker vs. Twilight Princess styles would be non-existent.

(That would be nice... really, they're both fantastic worlds. I fail to see why the fanbase should be divided.)

That's because otherwise you would seem like normal, sane people.

(...Touché.)

Using the ridiculous amount of rupees Mask had stashed with a blind bank-teller, and also the contents of a random roof chest, the group was able to rent the one empty room at Anju's hotel for the First Night. As the smallest Links, Speck, Wind, the Four, Red, Green, Vio, and Blue ended up sprawled in various odd positions on top of the sole bed in the room. On the bright side, it was a King size.

The rest of the group, utilizing their well-honed adventuring skills, crashed on the floor. Lore, having both the most experience and the largest inventory, pulled out multiple blankets and passed them around, which the Links used for either their intended use, or wadded them up for pillows.

And Tatl... well, she had her own opinions on where was appropriate for a lady to sleep, regardless of the fact that said lady was a fairy. She had her own room. She had also gotten Mask to pay for it.

Thus, aside from the obviously somewhat cramped conditions, the group spent the night in relative comfort.

Compared to most of their previous nights, anyways.

When morning came, the Links all trooped out of the room in the manner in which clowns troop out of a very small car. That is, it was hard to believe all those individuals had managed to fit inside that one small space, which was nicely consolidated by Anju's bemused expression as she watched them.

"That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be," Mask decided. "There was more room between us than I calculated."

"The reason you didn't think it was bad was because you didn't have to sleep next to the synchronized chainsaws over here," Blue complained, jerking his thumb at the Four. Said Link(s) blinked in confusion.

"...Chainsaws?"

"It means you snore," Blue explained slowly and pointedly.

"We do not!"

"Yes. You do."

"We demand proof."

In response, Blue reached into his bag, pulled out a phonograph and wound up the little handle. The machine promptly began spewing what sounded like a rockfall mixed with a dying whale. The Four stared at it blankly.

"When and why did you even... actually, that's not the point. How do we know that's us?"

Blue set down the phonograph (which was still playing), reached into his bag again and produced a pictograph this time. He once again pressed a button and the device neatly printed several pictures, all of which contained the Four sound asleep, lying on their backs with their mouths wide open. Then, just to make absolutely clear what was happening, Blue began running through the pictures in time to the soundtrack provided by the phonograph.

The result clearly stated that the Four, did indeed, snore.

"...Oh," they said, having not realized until this very moment. Then they frowned. "Why did you take pictures to match your audio? For that matter, why did you even record audio? And where the heck did you get that stuff?"

"I have my ways," Blue said with a shrug. He then handed the pictograph off to a marginally surprised Wind and said, "I borrowed that last night, by the way. You might want to get the shutter button looked at, it was sticking a little when I used it."

Wind opened his mouth, tried to say something, and failed. He settled for putting his pictograph away while giving Blue a disapproving glare instead.

"Anyways," Mask said pointedly, "we've got two days left to find Shadow before the Moon crashes and I have to reset the loop. Ikana Valley clearly wasn't the right place to look, so this time I think we ought to head over to the Southern Swamp."

Tatl groaned. "Oh, not again..."

"Why would Shadow possibly be in a swamp?" Realm asked.

"Two words: the water is poison."

Realm blinked awkwardly. "You... do know that was four words, right?"

"No, that was two words in two sets," Mask explained with very flawed logic. "Four divided by two is two, two plus two is four, two times two etc., etc. Therefore, two words. Got it?"

"Not in the slightest," Realm said.

"Well, Termina's weird anyways. The point is, I think the Swamp is the next best place to look."

"Exactly how much water is there?" Sketch asked. "I can see Shadow appreciating toxic liquid, but the rest of us are a bit more... vulnerable. Also, I'd like to avoid swimming if I can help it."

"WAIT!" Lore bellowed suddenly, and pointed an imperial finger at Sketch. "You don't like water?"

"Not especially," Sketch admitted.

"And you didn't mention this once back in Wind's Hyrule?"

"We literally landed in an ocean and then did battle with a squid. There wasn't much I could do to avoid it, so there wasn't much point in complaining about it."

"But you can swim," Red pointed out. "Why do you know how to swim if you don't like water?"

"I didn't used to dislike it!" Sketch protested. "At least, not as much. You know how I can be a painting?"

Everyone nodded. Well, everyone except Tatl. She fairy-scowled and grumbled something about missing out.

"Well, it was originally supposed to be a curse. Turn the people into paintings, take away their mobility, so on and so forth. And Yuga, he really liked watercolors."

Vio made a realization sound and shook his head sympathetically. "You got wet as a painting."

Sketch nodded. "By the time I realized I was dripping off the wall, I'd nearly lost my entire left side. And I kinda freaked out."

"Understandable," Wind agreed.

"So... yeah. I don't really do water anymore," Sketch finished.

"Okay. That makes sense," Mask said. "Luckily, we can work with that. The Swamp's got some ridiculously large lily pads, you can hopscotch on those so you don't need to get wet. Well, everyone should hopscotch, the water's still poison regardless."

"And the Deku Scrubs are insane," Tatl added darkly. "Their King is an overprotective moron and the rest of them aren't much better."

"Okay, have you met Shadow?" Steam asked her.

"No," she said shortly.

"Oh. Right, that explains that. Trust me, he could make the Scrubs look so normal they'd be boring."

Tatl perked up considerably at the sound of this. "He seems fun."

"Does that Moon follow you everywhere you go?" Dusk asked, eyeing said celestial body distastefully. The group was currently en route to the Swamp, traipsing across the Fields in the direction Mask indicated.

"Unfortunately," Mask grumbled. "It's like one of those paintings with the eyes that follow you. Only twelve times more creepy... oh, no offense, Sketch."

"Oh, that's fine. It actually makes for a fantastic prank."

"That gives me an idea if you're up for it," Mask said. "How do you feel about seeing if your painting power translates while wearing a mask?"

Sketch grinned wickedly. "When the Zora painting stalks you... I like it."

He then abruptly tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Hidden rocks are evil," he decided, though his words were muffled by the dirt.

"Actually," Wind said, scooping the object out of the grass, "this is a sword. If I'm not mistaken, it's Realm's sword."

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around for Realm.

"...He's lost again, isn't he."

The Four threw their hands up in simultaneous exasperation. "We give up. He defies the laws of logic."

"I've got this," Dusk said pulling out his Curse Stone. A few seconds of anatomical confusion later and Dusk was sniffing at Realm's sword to get his scent.

"...Right, he went this way," Dusk decided, and walked off with his nose to the ground.

Realm stared at the cow.

Then he looked up and stared at the hole.

Then he looked forward again and stared at the cow some more.

The cow mooed.

"...Where the heck did you come from?" Realm asked the cow. The cow declined to answer, instead stooping down to chew at the grass. The grass which was growing inside a cave. Underground. With no access to sunlight whatsoever.

Realm craned his head up again, examining the hole which he'd fallen through. He still wasn't entirely sure how, since there most certainly hadn't been a hole before he'd stepped there. Then again, most of the situations he got himself into seemed either incredibly unlikely or downright impossible.

"How am I supposed to get out?" he wondered, having noticed the hole was a good fifteen feet above his head.

The cow mooed. Realm glared at it.

"That's not helping, you know."

Dusk tracked Realm's scent across the fields through a bizarrely complicated set of turns, twists, and, for some reason, jumps, eventually ending underneath the length of a large, hollow fallen log. He stopped a few steps from a small dark hole in the ground and announced "This is where it stops."

Red pulled Dusk's sword off his back and handed it to the currently-a-wolf while the rest of the group crowded around the opening.

"You think he's down there?" Ocarina asked as Dusk changed himself back.

"That's where his trail leads," he responded.

"Okay then... Realm?" Ocarina called into the hole.

A faint, echoey voice came back. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing down there?"

"Well clearly, I got lost," Realm snarked from below. "Does anyone have a rope? I'm a bit stuck."

"I've got one," Lore offered, digging into his bag.

There was a random moo from the hole, followed by Realm's "Will you stop that!?"

"Uh... this might sound strange, but does there happen to be a cow down there?" Steam asked.

"Yes."

Steam blinked. "...Huh."

"Got it!" Lore announced, brandishing his rope in midair with the strange levitation that all the Links seemed to possess. He then tossed one end down the hole, which tautened as Realm began to haul himself out.

"Thanks," he said once he reached the top, barely out of breath. "Something about that cow just... it's a very strange cow."

"Maybe we should rescue it too?" Speck asked, peering down at the bovine. It mooed at him.

"It can't climb the rope," Gen pointed out. "And it seems to be happy down there."

"There is grass," Realm remembered, joining Speck in staring at the animal. "Despite there being no sun, wind, or any sort of water exposure whatsoever."

The cow blinked, slowly, then went back to grazing the impossible vegetation.

"So... moving on?" Green asked.

"Moving on," the group chorused.

"By the way, has anyone seen my sword?" Realm asked somewhat sheepishly. Wind, with a small grin, pulled said weapon off his back and handed it back to it's rightful owner. Realm flashed a grateful smile as he reattached it to himself.

"Hang on," Lore said suddenly, pointing at Realm. "Do you have your shield?"

Realm patted around his back for a moment, then nodded. "I only lost my sword and myself this time." He beamed at the group and exclaimed, "I'm improving!"

Ocarina groaned. "You just jinxed it, man. You just jinxed it."

"...You have got to be kidding me," Blue said, mouth slightly open. The smallish, squattish, greenish, and very, very strange man floating above them waved cheerfully.

"It's Tingle," Wind said incredulously. "How... What?"

"You've got one too?" Green asked.

"He sells me maps," Wind replied. "But he's... kinda odd..."

"Mine floats around dangling from a balloon and collects Force. He thinks that if he gets enough he'll become a real fairy... or something."

"Well, this one," Mask said, gesturing upwards, "also floats on a balloon, but I don't know what 'Force' is. If you shoot him down, you can buy a map from him. They're actually pretty good."

"I will admit he's a good mapmaker," Wind said. "But I'd honestly rather not meet another one."

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was muttering amongst themselves in mild confusion.

"Any idea who that is and why they're freaked?" Gen asked.

"I know a guy who looks like that," Speck said, "but he's not a mapmaker and instead of that 'Force' stuff he's obsessed with Kinstones. He thinks they will help him meet fairies."

"There's some statues in my Hyrule that have his face on them," Steam contributed.

"I know a Tingle," Lore added. "He actually did give me a map, but I only met him the one time..."

"So, what I'm hearing is a general consensus to not meet this Tingle?" Gen clarified.

"Din, no," the group chorused.

Everyone left very quickly.

The Southern Swamp, like most things in Termina seemed to do, defied logic. For starters, the lily pads covering the water were the size of tables. The water, although granted it was poison, was violently violet and, oddly enough, exactly matched Vio's clothes. It was a matter of curiosity as to why the lily pads weren't affected by the water when everything else clearly was.

There was also the issue of the weight capacity of said lilies. Mask had forgotten that they only supported him while he was a Scrub, and that he was the only one who could become said Scrub.

"Bloody incomplete instructions," Lore muttered darkly, taking another gulp from the bottled soup Gen had handed him. "You couldn't possibly have remembered that detail before I stepped on the pad, could you?"

"I said I was sorry..."

"'Sorry' doesn't change the fact that I have a spontaneous full body chemical burn."

"Okay, okay, point taken," Mask said with a wince. "So... ideas, anybody?"

"I can freeze it," Red offered. "Then we can walk across on the ice."

Lore took another swallow and frowned. "Isn't that my job?"

"You got to do it before, it's my turn now," Red told him petulantly. Lore shrugged.

"Theoretically, that'll work as long as you make it thick enough," Vio agreed. Red beamed and pulled out his Ice Rod (which conveniently doubled as a Fire Rod) and aimed it at the water. One white-blue flash later, the entire Swamp for a good hundred feet in any given direction was solid ice. Gen whistled.

"Nice job," Green complimented. Red blushed to match his clothing and led the way onto the ice.

"So, will this work?" He asked.

"Absolutely," Mask replied, grinning. "Now we can start looking."

"Speaking of which, did you have any ideas beyond 'Southern Swamp' as far as Shadow's location goes?" Steam asked.

"Nope. Basically we're just gonna wander around in a systematic fashion and hope we bump into him. Same thing we normally do, really."

"...True."

Red froze another section of the Swamp as they talked, and the Links kept on walking. And occasionally slipping, because they were walking on ice. Balance doesn't exist on that stuff.

"Mask," Lore said very slowly and deliberately, "why are Koume and Kotake trying to sell me a guided photography tour?"

"They do that here," Mask said with a shrug. Lore took a deep, deep breath.

"You are aware that they've tried to kill me? Multiple times?"

"Actually, they've also tried to kill me a good bit," Ocarina added helpfully. "And by extension, Mask."

Mask smiled sheepishly.

"...Why are you okay with this?!"

"They don't actually do anything dangerous here!" Mask protested. "They're harmless tourist trap witches who make a living by giving naturalist tours! And actually, right now they're in a small recession because the poison water is bad for their business."

"...I still don't like it."

"Then let's leave. Clearly Shadow isn't in this bit anyways."

"This reminds me an awful lot of this place back in my Hyrule," Dusk decided, looking around at the surrounding woods. Which for some reason was a perfectly valid part of the Swamp, despite not having any water in it. "It's ridiculously confusing, impossibly identical, and you have to follow a really annoying guide creature to make any sense of it."

"-dark-colored guy with glowing red eyes, you seen anyone like that?" Mask said to the monkey.

"Mask and I... that is, I... well, Mask too... gah, we used to live in a place like this," Ocarina told Dusk. "We thought we were Kokiri for a while... you would not believe how confused I was when this happened to me." He gestured to his seventeen-year-old self.

"-no, not the Skull Kid," Mask sighed. "I already said he looked like us, and besides, Skull Kid doesn't even have red eyes!"

The monkey, who was curiously fluent in English, frowned and chirped something in his high-pitched voice. Mask facepalmed.

"Oh, I can imagine," Dusk replied. "I got turned into a wolf, remember? Until I got the ability to control it- not now, Midna-yes, I know it was you, now shush!- until that happened I hated it."

"-no, not a Deku Scrub!" Mask snapped. "They don't have red eyes either, nor do they look anything like us!"

The monkey chittered.

"...I know I turn into a Deku Scrub. The guy we're looking for does not. He looks like a normal Hylian, but with a black color scheme and red eyes. Have. You. Seen. Anyone. Like. That?"

After a minute of careful contemplation, the monkey shook his head.

Mask sighed. "...Thank you for your help..."

"No luck?" Dusk asked as Mask trudged back to the group.

"I don't know why I bothered asking, those monkeys have bananas for brains..."

"This is the Palace of the Deku Kingdom! Only Deku Scrubs may enter!" spat an over-enthusiastic Deku Guard. Mask pulled out one of this Transformations masks and slapped it on his face, causing the Guards to trip over their flowers in surprise. "What strange power is this?!"

"Have you seen a Hylian with a dark color scheme and glowing red eyes?" the now Deku Scrub Mask questioned, completely ignoring the Guard's shock.

"...No... No we have not!" the other Guard declared, recovering his wits. "We only allow Deku Scrubs into the Palace and we have most certainly not allowed a Hylian entrance! You insult us, strange young Deku Wizard!"

"I'm not a-" Mask began, then stopped himself. "I mean... yeah, sure, Deku Wizard. You're absolutely sure?"

"What do you take us for?" the Guard hooted angrily. "We are not some insufficient beginner security! We are the best of the best, the Guards Supreme, the ultimate pinnacle of safety! You not only insult us, you trample our honorable reputation and spit on it! Why, I have half a mind to-"

"Thankyouforyourtime!" Mask said hurriedly, shooing the group back onto the frozen Swamp water. The Guards waved their fronds threateningly as the Links left and went back to glaring at anything non-Deku.

"They were cheerful," Gen said dryly. Mask pulled the Deku Transformation off his face and stowed it back in his bag.

"At the very least, we know he's not in there," he replied. "Except for maybe..."

"...the back way," Mask finished. "I forgot about this part... Unfortunately for you guys, you need to be a Deku Scrub to cross all that. I'll meet you back here in about fifteen minutes."

It was a very harassed-looking Mask who came back eighteen minutes later.

"He definitely wasn't in there," he said.

"What happened to you?" Sketch asked. Mask twitched.

"Let's just say the Deku King is a little... eccentric."

"Welp, this is the last place I can think to look," Mask said. "This is Woodfall, guys. But... Shadow wouldn't be able to get inside the actual Temple without playing a specific song. And I don't think he even has an instrument. Dusk?"

"Yeah?"

"He's copying you right now, how musically inclined are you?"

"Well..." Dusk thought for a moment. "I'm pretty good with a grass stem, and you all know I can sing a bit. And I have a musical necklace, but I can only play the one song on it. That's about it, really."

"And none of those would open the Temple..." Mask mused. In the following silence, Red refreshed the ice pad they were standing on with a faint whuomp.

"So what you're saying is," Lore summarized, "is that Shadow isn't here either."

Mask shook his head despondantly.

"Right," Lore said, heaving a sigh. "We've pretty much spent all day here and there isn't much point in sticking around any longer. We should head back to Clock Town and see if we can rent that room at Anju's again."

"I'll visit the banker," Mask said. And the group walked back the way they came.

Back inside the rented room, the Links were in a bit of a slump. While it was true that none of them particularly knew Shadow well and liked him even less, he was still a Link. Albeit through a complicated set of darkly magical circumstances, but still. His original name had been Dark Link, after all.

And that being said, this was the first time one of their own had seriously been lost.

"I know we don't spend a lot of time with him," Speck said, "but for some reason... I kinda miss him."

He received a lot of strange looks at that. At least, until Red spoke up.

"He's cranky, but the fact that he's been around up 'til now shows he cares, I think."

This was a fairly new revelation to most of the group. But when they thought about it... for a very long time and with a few loopholes allowed... it made moderate sense.

"I do enjoy his sarcasm," Lore admitted.

"You enjoy everybody's sarcasm," Gen told him.

"Well yes, but his is especially witty and biting."

"And he is pretty good with a sword," Dusk added. "Overly violent, yes. Reckless, completely. But... helpful."

"He's kinda like... that cousin you have, who you don't particularly like, but you care about anyway because they're family," Wind decided.

There was a general consensus at that.

"We hope he's okay..." the Four said softly.

Lore snorted. "Heck, are you kidding? He's Shadow. If there's anyone I know who can take care of himself, it's that guy."

"Except for the fact that he's missing," Sketch pointed out quietly.

"...Yeah."

"Alright, look," Mask said. "Tomorrow's the Third Day. We can spend the day looking in some other places, and then we'll get our real opportunity when the Moon comes into range."

"Wait wait wait," Steam interrupted. "You think Shadow might be on the Moon? That creepypasta nightmare- oh I see your point."

"In the Moon, technically," Mask replied. "But... yeah, that's my last idea aside from a few places we're gonna look in tomorrow. So I vote, we sleep now. All in favor?"

It was then agreed that sleep was an excellent idea.

And about two hours later, Blue was thanking the goddesses that he'd remembered to buy earplugs earlier that day.

I didn't pop in on Shadow, because I'm practicing my cliffhangers and my plot-related suspense. Also, I felt like it. *Laughs evilly*

The Links had some fun in the Swamp. Just shenanigans, really, followed by a surprisingly (for me, anyway) solemn scene. With what I had going on, I felt it was needed.

And I hope you all enjoyed the cow :)

One more thing. I start school again next week, so updates may get a little… unpredictable. Bear with me, I want to continue this thing just as much as you guys. All I'm asking for is your patience on this while I settle into the school rhythm again.

Until next time,

Changeling.

Thanks to Daydragon12, KaguTheGreat, FierceOni, Stygian Gallade Knight, Tymaporer, CrystalClearCourier, I Am A Toad, and Andrea231 for favoriting/following!

Talon: I can't tell if you're annoyed at my hinted pairing for Dusk or my unfortunate lack of ability to make you laugh. But if you're only on Chapter 31 at the moment, I can always hope my future wit will satisfy you. I'll take a look at my older humor and see if I can replicate it for my newer chapters.

LuckyLugia: I just REALLY didn't want to deal with yet another set of Four Sword heroes, it was hard enough figuring out how to differentiate between the Four and Red, Blue, Vio, and Green. Ravio... well, I'm working on that.

And... wow. I mean... WOW. Just... wow. I really don't have a better word... Wow. Thank You.