Part Two
By Jive Maxwell
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
(The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Western Ocean.)
In a display of magical lights and a high-pitched whistling
sound, Link appeared, followed by Sora.
They were standing in ocean waters, just a short distance
away from a sandy beach.
"A few more feet and we wouldn't have had to get wet,"
Sora said with a sigh.
Link stared up at him.
"But I don't mind;" Sora added quickly. "I like the ocean.
Where are we? This doesn't look like my island."
Link looked around and recognized the foreign shore.
"Great Bay Coast," he said to Sora. "The Western Ocean."
"Have you been here before?" Sora asked.
Link nodded, then raised his Ocarina to his lips and played
a strange song.
"What's that called?" Sora wanted to know.
"The New Wave Bossa Nova." Link said proudly, holding
up the Ocarina as if to show him. "I just remembered it;
Now Mikau is coming."
"Who's Mik-"
There was a sudden splash as something exploded from
the surface of the water; Sora ducked, expecting the worst:
sharks, moray eels, tidal waves, giant sea witches...
"Little dude!" said a watery voice. "You're back! Didja
come to see the band?"
Link shook his head.
Sora jumped when he saw who- or what- Link was talking
to; a whitish being with blue spots on his back and
shoulders, webbed hands and feet with a fin on the back of
his head was standing where the eruption had taken place,
looking like he had once belonged to a zoo.
"Didja come to save us all again then?" the Zora asked.
Link nodded. "I have to find the Keyhole."
"You mean we," Sora said, with a wide smile.
"Who's your friend?" Mikau asked.
"Sora," Link said crossly.
"Yeah, uh, hi! I'm Sora," Sora chuckled, getting over his
shock and reaching out to shake Mikau's hand. He put his hands
behind his back to brush off a few crusty scales.
"Do you know where we might find someone who would
know about the Keyhole?" Sora asked.
"You should try Kafei;" Mikau suggested. "Little dude from
Clocktown is always out studying the 'geolgy'; I think that's
what he says it is."
"Uh, thanks for the tip," Sora admitted. "Hey, Link, do you
know where this Clocktown is?"
Link nodded, put the ocarina to his mouth and played
another song.
"So...heh heh," Sora said nervously. "Who's coming
now?"
"Epona."
There was a distant neigh, followed by the sound of
hooves, and then Link's horse, Epona, approached, racing
across the sandy beach.
Link waded through the water to meet her. He waved to
Mikau and Sora, and then rode away.
"HEY!" Sora yelled, running after the smaller boy. "WAIT!
We're supposed to be a team!"
After finally catching up to Link and a short, uncomfortable
ride to Clocktown, Sora found himself following Link through the
strange little place called Clocktown.
It reminded Sora a bit of Traverse Town, the first world
other than his home that he had visited.
Link went to a building with a sign that read: 'Stock Pot Inn'.
"Link, come on," Sora scowled. "This is no time for a nap!"
Link shot Sora a glare and knocked on the door. Sora was
beginning to get the feeling that Link didn't like him much.
"We closed 10 minutes ago!" someone called from inside.
Link knocked again.
A young girl opened the door.
"Hi, I'm Sora," Sora said, blushing. "Sorry, my friend here-"
"Link!" the girl cried happily. She grabbed Link in a warm
hug. "I'm so glad to see you again! Hello, uh, Sora, is it? I'm Anju.
Won't you come in?"
"Kafei," Link said simply.
"You, too?" Anju sighed. "Now that my husband is their
size, all the kids- the Bombers, and the other town children,
keep asking for him to come out and play. Well, he's not here,"
Anju said crossly. "And I don't think it's fitting for a grown man
in a child's body to play with children. He should be out working
like other men. In fact," she added proudly, "he's out working
right now, studying the ruins in Ikana Canyon. Though I don't
know what he sees in that creepy place. He keeps babbling
about some secret 'Keyhole' he's been researching. I think he's
been expecting you, Link."
Link and Sora gasped and, for the first time, smiled at each
other.
"Let's go!" Sora cheered, walking away, with the idea of
returning to Epona. Link grabbed his wrist to stop him and
held up his ocarina.
"This way is faster," he said, playing an exciting tune.
"Oh...okay," Sora said, thinking he was getting the hang of
this ocarina business. "Who's coming now?"
"No one;" Link answered, "we're going."
"Huh? How? Where?"
Sora's questions were answered abruptly. Link grabbed
Sora's hand, huge wings sprouting from his back, and, in a
flurry of feathers, they disappeared.
"AAAHH!!" Sora yelled in frustration. "Warn me before you
play another crazy song, will you?!"
"Alright," Link said with a quick nod.
"Where are we?"
"Ikana Canyon: Stone Tower Temple- LOOK OUT!"
"Wha-?"
Link shoved Sora out of the way suddenly, and both boys
fell to the floor. A shadow grew large where Sora had been
standing, and suddenly a giant hand hit the floor, scrambling
toward them.
Tangled in each other, they were hopeless to escape, and
they might have gotten badly hurt but then,
"BEGONE!"
A small, purple haired, red-eyed boy drove back the
creature with a quick blow from his large dagger.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he smiled at Link.
Link nodded.
"Hang on a minute," Sora said. "Are you Kafei?"
"I am, and you must be Sora."
"How did you know?" Sora wondered, taken back.
"I've had visions of your coming," Kafei explained, walking
deeper into the temple with Sora and Link close behind. "Sent to
me by princess Zelda of the other world herself. As there
was little time for you to search for the Keyhole yourselves
upon your arrival here, she asked me to commit a search
on the subject, as I am a well-known archeologist- or perhaps
the only one. But what interesting results! My studies here have
taught me that the Keyhole you seek lies somewhere within
Castletown. Can you imagine? The heart of the world, right
under people's noses all this time and no one's noticed it. It
must be quite well hidden. Well, I've no time to chat; I must finish
the rest of my studies before nightfall."
"Why before nightfall?" Sora asked.
"The darkness will approach at nightfall, threatening to
consume everything at midnight, exactly as it did once before."
Kafei picked up a lamp and began to read faint writing on the
walls of the temple. "It, too, seeks the Keyhole, but for it's own
foul purposes. And besides, I want to get home in time for
supper; Anju is a terrible cook, but she gets horribly upset if I'm
late for supper."
"Who's behind all of this?" Link asked, speaking more
words than usual in his interest. He had long ago learned that
there was a source behind all evil, and often it wasn't exactly as
it first appeared.
"I'll have to get back to you on that one, Link," Kafei said
absently. "But it's likely that you'll find out before I do anyway."
Sora and Link stayed beside Kafei, protecting him from
temple monsters while he continued his research well into the
night. They went outside now and then to escape from the dry
temple air, and noted nervously that there wasn't a single star or
even the moon out tonight, though Kafei told them it was
supposed to be clear.
"I've found it!" Kafei said at last, so that all three of them,
even Kafei himself, jumped in surprise. "Listen to this:
'Forged before the world began to grow and hidden by
early man, the gate to the heart now lies forgotten within the
center of the world, so that we look at it everyday but never
notice its quiet existence.' Oh," Kafei sighed. "That's all it says.
I hate guesswork. Ready to take a chance, boys? We know it's in
Clocktown somewhere, but what's something we look at
everyday?"
They were silent with thought.
"How much time do we have left?" Sora asked after a long
moment.
"Time!" Link said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"Oh, right!" Kafei laughed. "Everyone looks at the time!
The Keyhole must be near the clock tower!"
"Alright!" Sora cheered.
"But that reminds me," Kafei gasped. "It's nearly midnight!
You two must hurry! Use the Ocarina!"
"What about you?" Sora asked.
"Don't worry about me!" Kafei laughed. "Just hope that
Anju didn't wait up for me. She's more dangerous then any beast
in here."
Link nodded in agreement.
"Well, okay," Sora said reluctantly. "Take care of yourself
then."
"You, too." Kafei nodded. They headed outside, and Link
raised the Ocarina once more, playing the same song as last
time. Sora willingly took Link's hand, and then they vanished,
leaving Kafei alone.
A three-tailed, yellow fox trotted over and sat by Kafei's
side.
"My my, we're in good hands, aren't we?" the fox asked.
"Yes, I believe so, Keeton," Kafei replied.
"Now, in case you've forgotten, there's someone waiting
for you," Keeton said with a smile.
"Who?" Kafei wondered. "Oh wait! Are you talking about
Anju? I'm late! She'll have my head! I'm so late!"
Kafei took off running to the sound of Keeton's merry
laughter.
(The Temple of Time)
"Do you have it?" Zelda asked anxiously as soon as they
arrived.
"Yup!" Sora said cheerfully, raising Link's arm to show her
the pulsating red gem in the boy's hand.
Zelda sighed with relief.
"That's great! Now quickly- open the gate to the heart of
Hyrule: the Door of Time!"
"Right!" Sora nodded. He drew his Keyblade, pointed it at
the stone wall behind the pedestal and gave it a twist. The Door
of Time was suddenly wrenched open, and Link ran in and put
the Heartstone inside.
He returned looking triumphant.
"Good!" Zelda cheered, clapping. "Now that the hearts of
Hyrule and Termina are combined, the two worlds will become
one!"
They climbed up the bell tower to take a look, and saw
Death Mountain and the Northern Mountain together in the
distance.
"But what about my island?" Sora asked worriedly.
"Don't worry," Zelda assured him.
"We'll save them all," Link agreed.
To be continued...
JM: Dude, Mikau's hot.
Sora: ...
JM: Please review.
