Author's Note: This is Part 2 of this special trilogy. It's inspired by the new GBC games. It follows the storylines (though it's intertwined with Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask), but it also contains a couple of side stories of my own that I hope will help make this series very special.
2nd Author's Note: Regretfully, I've cancelled the rest of the side story? Why? Because it's simply too time consuming at the moment. Right now, my hands are full with THIS story and hopefully by taking it down, I'll be able to concentrate on this story a lot more. In fact, I hope I can update this more often now. Seriously! I mean it this time!!
A couple of hours passed. Indeed it was just like old times. Link had a hard time going through the trials of this latest dungeon. The darkness was almost overwhelming and the Gels liked to come out of nowhere. Then there were the Keeses that flew out of the corners of each room that nearly caught Link by surprise.
Things didn't get any easier. Link soon found himself facing off against two Moblins, and after what he went through in Termina earlier, he had had his fill of the blue swine. Nonetheless, Link defeated them and continued through the treacherous dungeon. Finally…he reached one last door.
"This is the only room we haven't been in," Tatl said. "What do you think is in here?"
"How bad could it possibly be?" Link pointed out.
Link opened the door…and gasped at the sight before him. The sight…was pretty bad.
Having changed her location to the room where Link defeated the Phantom Ganondorf five years ago, Saria should have been able to do this a lot easier. But things weren't getting any easier. In fact…Saria wasn't making much progress at all. While some of that might have been due to the noisy Kokiri upstairs, the Forest Sage realized that it wasn't all their fault. Saria was in over her head…and she needed help.
Saria sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs. She took a deep sigh and wished she had a clue as to what she was doing. It was hard enough to open a portal to another world, but opening a portal to another time made things even more difficult.
"Saria…you're not giving up already, are you?"
Saria gasped and turned around to see an unexpected surprise. "Impa!"
The Forest Sage rejoiced upon seeing her friend, the Shadow Sage. Saria ran up and gave her a big hug. After having to do everything solo, she was glad to have a little help…assuming Impa was here to help.
"Um…Impa…why are you here? Not that I'm unhappy, but…"
Impa chuckled. "Saria…everything is…just fine. I just came to help you. Finding our Link in the future won't be easy and is certainly a task that can't be done alone."
"Did Rauru send you?" Saria asked.
"You…might say that. Rauru is having prophecies. He's saying he sees another who might be able to help us. But while he figures everything out, it is up to us to try and find Link…at the right time."
Saria's head was spinning. "This mission is so complicated."
Impa couldn't deny that. "It does sound rather unusual…but I feel we'll pick everything up as we go along. So let us begin."
Saria smiled now that she had backup. Hopefully, things would get a lot easier…of course…that's when the interruptions began to take place once again.
"Uh…Saria, are you in here?"
Saria moaned softly when she heard Mido. She turned around and saw that familiar head sticking in through the door. "Mido…I came in here for some privacy. What do you want?"
"We heard a lot of noise coming from upstairs earlier," Mido said. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Saria answered. "I just had a little setback." Then the Forest Sage smiled. "Mido…I'm actually glad you're here. Could you do me one more favor?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Go with Malon and the fairy and make sure they don't get lost on the way back."
Mido shook his head. "W-Why me? I almost got lost finding my way back last time. I can't lead anybody back here."
"You're admitting you can't lead?" Saria asked curiously.
Mido quickly backtracked. "N-No, that's not what I meant!"
"Then do me another favor and take Dore with you," Saria suggested. "You two have been getting along lately and maybe you two will fare better working together."
Mido scoffed. "That's what you think. You didn't see us out there earlier."
"I'm sure you two can do just fine," Saria went on. "Malon won't be able to find her way back here and I don't know about that fairy. You two are the best chance they have of finding the Forest Temple again. So just go!"
"Oh…all right," Mido groaned. "But I'm warning you, I won't be able to put up with Dore for the whole day, so he'd better know when to keep his mouth shut."
"I'm sure he will," Saria said dryly. "Thanks, Mido."
As soon as Mido walked out, Saria smiled. She felt pretty satisfied with herself, because once again she had taken out any possible interruptions.
"You're trying to keep them busy, aren't you?" Impa grinned, reading Saria's mind.
Saria giggled. "I know the rest of the Kokiri can keep things to a dull roar, especially with us down here. I just had to keep Mido busy and as long as I was sending him out, I might as well keep Dore occupied too." Saria sighed and faced one of the paintings. "Well…now that we have that out of the way…let's get started. But do you think we'll find him, Impa? In time, I mean?"
"I honestly don't know," Impa answered. "There seem to be so many variables in this mission…that I don't know what's going to happen next. I just know that we can't reach Link too early…or too late. And that won't be easy at all. But we're sages…we have to try."
Saria was afraid of hearing that. It was true that she was a sage and this was her duty. But what if she…failed?
"DUCK!!"
Link immediately rolled out of the way of a fireball. When he and Tatl went through that last door, they immediately met up with a huge dragon. It was enormous in size and had a horn on its forehead. And it had wings on its back. All that added up to a tremendously intimidating creature.
"What's that supposed to be?!" Tatl shouted.
Only one creature fit this description. Link realized that. "It looks like…an Aquamentus! I didn't think it was real!"
Aquamentus was a legendary dragon that Link once read about. He never thought he would actually encounter one of these fearsome creatures. But it looked like it was happening. It was time for Link to move into action.
Link stepped out into the open, while Tatl ducked under his hat. Aquamentus was set to move in. Instead of breathing fire, Aquamentus began to charge Link. Link moved out of the way of the dragon's charge. He realized a wooden sword wasn't going to do him much good, so he decided to try another plan of action.
When Aquamentus had its back turned, Link climbed up its back in the blink of an eye. Then he took out the sack of seeds he found earlier in the dungeon.
"Link! Are you sure?" Tatl panicked. "We don't even know what those do!"
Link was willing to take chances at this point. He took the whole pile of seeds and place on the dragon's head. Link jumped off and ran to the corner. Aquamentus tried slowly stalking towards the corner and was ready to breathe its fire at Link. But just as Aquamentus reared back…the seeds ignited and the dragon's head was on fire.
Aquamentus swung its head frantically, but there was no way to put out the fire. Link saw that this would be his best chance to put the beast away, so he took out his wooden sword. He made the only other move he could make. Link lunged with his wooden sword and stabbed the dragon right in the heart. Aquamentus fell to the ground…dead.
Tatl flew out from under Link's hat and saw the dead dragon, its head still burning up. "Whoa…those seeds are effective."
Link saw the results of his handiwork and couldn't help but agree. These 'ember seeds' would prove to be effective in the future. But for now, Link walked away…moving on towards the end of the dungeon. He went through the next door…and found what looked like a piece of a plant with light shining around it.
Link reached over and grabbed it…and was surrounded by a circle of light.
Malon looked back at the Forest Temple one more time. She wished she could help Saria, since they both wanted Link back more than anything. But Malon had something she had to do. She knew Link brought her out to the Lost Woods for a reason and that reason was a box that was stolen. A box that Malon was going to recover.
"The Skull Kid probably has it stashed away somewhere," the fairy, Tael, said. "I'll take you to him. Just…follow me."
"Wait!"
Malon and Tael stopped upon hearing that voice, the voice of a Kokiri boy. One of the Kokiri was coming to join them. Malon recognized him as Mido, and he was in a hurry to reach them before they left.
"Saria insisted I go with you," Mido panted. "She wanted me to help you find the way back just in case."
"Of course you couldn't lead a horse to water," another Kokiri voice said. He came out of the bush and stood right behind Mido, with an ever-present smirk. Malon recognized him as Dore, the eldest of the Know-It-All brothers.
"Who asked you?" Mido snapped.
"It's true, isn't it?" Dore smirked. "Why else would Saria want me to come along? Because she knows I won't get us lost."
"So why couldn't you lead us home last time?" Mido shot back with a smirk of his own.
"If you two are coming with us, then let's go!" Tael snapped. "I want to be able to get this done before my sister comes back………IF my sister comes back."
There was a tone of sadness in the fairy's voice and Malon could sympathize. She didn't know what she'd do if it turned out that Link wasn't coming back. But he had to come back…didn't he?
"So…which way are we going?" Mido asked.
Tael flew out towards the distance. "This way. I'm sure of it."
Malon let the two Kokiri boys walk in front of her, while she looked back one more time. The farm girl had all the confidence in the world in Saria. She had faith in her and she was sure that she could get the job done. If anything…the only question would be if Malon could come back before the inevitable.
Finally, she shrugged and followed her companions. This would be easy enough. All they had to do was get a box. How hard could that be?
After Link took the dungeon's treasure, he found himself outside again. Then he began to hear a voice.
"Link…this is the Maku Tree. You have successfully recovered the Fertile Soil, the first Essence of Nature. I can feel some of my power being restored. And I have also sensed the Temple of Seasons. I sense that it has been buried in an underground world. Link, you must find this underground world and enter the Temple of Seasons. There…you shall find the Rod of Seasons."
The telepathic feed faded, leaving Link and Tatl just a little confused. Not knowing what else to do…they headed east. Link slowly walked with his head facing the ground and his boots occasionally kicking up dirt.
"Rod of Seasons?" Link repeated. "What could that mean…?"
Tatl gasped. "INCOMING!!"
Link abruptly raised his head and found a witch on a broomstick heading right for him. She didn't have enough time to stop…and…
**CRASH**
…there was a collision. The witch fell off her broomstick and Link was knocked on his backside. They both sat up to see that their things had been scattered everywhere.
"Jeez, what's the matter with you?" the witch snapped. "Can't you watch where you're going?"
"Huh?!" Tatl shot back. "You're the one who crashed into us, lady! Have you ever thought of flying lessons?!"
The witch shook her head and faced Link. "Your fairy's got a big mouth, kid. Does she do all your talking for you?"
"I can speak for myself," Link replied as he picked up some of his things. "She's just a better speaker. And who are you supposed to be? A witch in training?"
"Um…sort of," she answered. "The name's Maple and I'm sort of new at this. I'm an apprentice for my grandmother and I haven't been riding for very long. I'm actually SUPPOSED to be training right now, but I ducked out for a few minutes. And if I spend anymore time talking to YOU, then I'm sure to get caught. So I won't waste my time with you, kid. See ya."
Something went off in Link's head, though. He suddenly remembered something he was keeping. This witch looked like she could help him. So Link decided to stop her.
"Hey, wait! Do you need…an egg?"
For Link, it was worth a try. He wanted to try and see if Maple wanted to keep the egg Malon gave him. So he reached into his bag and pulled out the weird egg.
"That's a weird coincidence, kid," Maple said. "I just happen to be looking for an egg like that. Syrup will like this. Let me have it, kid. I'll give you…this doll."
Maple pulled out a doll. It was a stuffed doll of a ghoulish purple light with a scary face designed on the front. It was like a small creature, unlike a Poe.
"What do you say, kid? This Gastly doll for the egg?"
Link nodded and handed the egg to Maple. Maple gave the Gastly doll to Link and got back on her broomstick.
"I'm sure someone will give you something good for that," Maple added. "But me…I have to get on my way."
Maple quickly got back on her broomstick and flew away, leaving Link and Tatl without so much as an apology.
"There are words for people for like her," Tatl muttered.
"Like 'witch'?" Link thought.
"Close," Tatl answered. "I'll just leave it at that. If anything good came out of this, it's that we get to keep some of her stuff."
"What do you mean?" Link asked curiously.
Tatl flew down and removed a leaf to reveal a ring. "Finders keepers."
"You haven't changed at all, have you?" Link groaned. "You're still stealing!"
"Hey…old habits are hard to break," Tatl whined. "And what do YOU know? I've changed more than you know."
Link wasn't convinced. He thought that by now, Tatl would have changed her thieving ways. But maybe she wasn't to blame. Maybe a certain Skull Kid was the one to blame.
"Any ideas on where to go next?" Tatl asked. "We don't exactly see many underground worlds these days."
"Let's try the village," Link suggested. "Maybe someone there might know."
With the hope that someone would know something, Link and Tatl headed south towards Horon Village. This was sure to be a long quest and that didn't set too well with Link. Finding eight Essences of Nature seemed like a difficult task…only made harder by the fact that Link didn't know a single thing about this world of Holodrum.
Link never realized that Horon Village was such a big place. So far he had already been to the home of the Know-It-All birds and the ring appraisal shop. But none of those places knew where they could find the underground world.
Then Link stopped by another house by the shore. He could see plots of dirt outside the home, which led him to believe that this must have been a farmer's home. Link slowly knocked on the door, which was ajar, and found a couple. A man who clearly looked like a farmer, right down to the hat and hoe, and his wife, who was holding a baby.
"Um…hello?"
"Come in, young man," the farmer said. "It's not often we get visitors."
Link slowly stepped in and Tatl flew in right behind him. It was a quaint little cottage, almost like some of the homes Link was used to seeing by Zora's River.
"My name's Bipin and this is my wife, Blossom. I'm a farmer around Horon Village and that's how I've made my living. But lately, with the way the seasons have been going, the harvest hasn't been going too well. I wonder why the seasons are in such chaos."
Link took that opportunity to ask. "I've…been wondering that, too. And I've been thinking about finding the answers myself. But I've heard rumors about an underground world. Do…you know where I could find it?"
Bipin scratched his head. "You must mean Subrosia. No one's ever been in Subrosia before and no one knows how to get in there. But it DOES exist. There have been various sightings of Subrosians above ground. Of course, everyone just thinks the sightings are pure nonsense. I wish I could help you out, but I have no idea how any Hylian would get into Subrosia."
Link sighed. At least he was getting closer. Now his underground destination had a name: Subrosia. "Well…thanks anyway." Link started to make his way out, before he was stopped.
"Wait!" Blossom called out. "Maybe you could help us."
Link turned back. "You need help?"
"It's our newborn baby," Blossom explained. "It's been a week since he was born…but we still don't have a name for him. Could you help us?"
Link walked over and saw the sleeping baby wrapped in a sheet.
"Cute kid," Tatl said. "What should we name him?"
Link thought hard. There were so many names out there…and so many people he knew. He didn't know where to begin. Of course, with most of his friends being female, that helped narrow it down. Then it hit him.
"What about…Mido?"
Bipin wasn't so sure of that…but Blossom beamed. She seemed to love it. "Mido…that's a wonderful name! We'll call him Mido!"
Bipin scratched his head. "Rather unusual…"
"We love it!" Blossom squealed. "Thank you so much! Um…what's your name?"
"My name's Link."
Blossom closed her eyes and rocked her child. "Link…I'll remember that name. We owe you a lot, Link. And…so does Mido."
After those words and another brief farewell, Link left the small cottage thinking about how he had impacted the couple's lives. Bipin and Blossom almost reminded Link of Anju and Kafei…with the notable exception of a child. Link hadn't forgotten what Anju shared with him a few nights ago when this whole adventure started.
"Mido?" Tatl repeated. "You named the kid 'Mido'? After that obnoxious little twerp?"
That caught Link by surprise. "Have…you two ever met?"
Tatl groaned. "You might say that." She shrugged. "Any other ideas? We're pretty lost and I don't think we can ask anyone else for directions."
As soon as Tatl said that, though, Link began to hear…music. It sounded like a mandolin. Link looked by a tree…to see an old bald-headed man with dark sunglasses and a black wardrobe.
"A boy and his fairy seeking an underground temple?" the man asked. He then began to play his mandolin and sing. "The underworld of Subrosia…seek it is what they do…but they are lost in the fields and have nowhere to go…so now they look to Sokra!"
Tatl was her usual sarcastic self. "Oh, great. If there was ever one thing this quest was just SCREAMING for, it's a wandering minstrel."
"Not just a minstrel," Sokra declared proudly. "I am a wandering prophet and I know what goes on in this land of Holodrum. I have seen many sights and been many places…and I happen to know which way you should go."
Link's Hylian ears were burning. "You know how to get to Subrosia?"
Sokra started playing again. "To get to the temple just head to the east…give Sokra's advice a whirl…keep walking straight through the autumn fields…until you see a hooded girl."
"A hooded girl?" Link repeated. "Thanks…Sokra."
Sokra cleared his throat…and pushed a small jar forward. "I enjoy giving you advice, young man. But…wandering prophets…have to profit, too, you know."
Link sighed. The wandering prophet…was asking for a tip. Link took out a blue rupee and dropped it in the jar, leaving Sokra a happy minstrel. Then they continued eastward.
"So what do you think this hooded girl looks like?" Tatl asked, as they continued walking.
Link didn't know how to answer that, but he took a guess. "I think we'll know her when we see her."
Author's Note: Next update comes New Year's Day! Promise!
Any comments? Mail me at HyruleKokiri13@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!
