Chapter 3
I wander, dazed, through a blossoming forest, its trees stretching beyond the sky's limits. A new feeling awakes in side me as I continue down a small and beaten path leading to nowhere. The air seems fresher here, wherever it is. It almost seems like I fell into an alternate universe or a wonderland beyond my reach. All I know is that it is the most amazing and beautiful place I have ever been in my life. Flowers flourish all around me, as if for me. Still, I have yet to see any of the life in this forest to be at all dead, even to the slightest bit. I can't help but smile faintly as I stroll through this new territory.
I stop where the trees end and a vast field begins. I gasp lightly, looking around at the sea of beauty, almost afraid I'll get in trouble for going near it. Uncertainly, I step forward, pressing on. I feel oddly happy and safe. Unsure of which way to go, I continue walking ahead. I would have probably walked on forever just for the hell of it. Did I die and somehow land in heaven? For the last four years, I have felt nothing but sadness, only wishing for something to happen. All of this appears to be too good to be true.
The wind brushes my hair back as I bask in the glory of this sun. I'm interrupted from my thoughts as I hear a noise in the distance. As I grow closer, I notice the noise to be laughter. Others are here, too? I develop a slight worried look. I have never had the best experiences with people. The feeling passes quickly and I start on again, confidently, ready for anything. I'm determined not to ruin a good thing. I'd fight for a place like this and I don't ever want to leave or hate it for any reason, even if it means becoming stronger. I might have a new chance to start over and I'm not about to let them get to me. I follow the laughter for a few hundred yards, courage burning in my soul with great passion.
I stop a few yards away from the group of four up ahead. Why're they in the middle of nowhere? I stare for a moment, questioning my vision. What the hell? They are as I have never seen before. They don't even appear to be human at first glance. Their hair, clothes, and features are so different. Never before have I seen anyone like them. Maybe I'm in Hell…Hell is pretty nice. Humph, and all these years they told me Hell was bad! I glance at the group of three boys and a girl, all of which seem to be about my age. I'm now judging whether to go over. For all I know they could be creepy psycho demon cannibals. I continue to watch a bit longer, not moving.
As I debate against my better judgment, I fail to notice that they've stopped playing and are now staring at me. One of the boys takes off his mask and walks over to me, smiling. I snap out of my thoughts and look around, ready to run if anything too dangerous should arise. The boy's eyes glow fiercely at me. I'm a little intimidated by it all. He glances back to the others, nods then looks to me, and says, "Hi…wanna join?" My eyes shift violently before I regain composure. Be cool. What happened to that strong willed person that was just here? I gain my self-assurance quickly but still don't say anything. I show no signs of fear. I take a step closer and begin to open my mouth to question them but before I can say a word, he grabs my hand and leads me over to the others. They all wave as he hands me his mask, smiling kindly. I smile faintly to where they can't see. This feels nice; they accepted me without questioning or judging me. Never before have I felt such a spontaneous charity.
The other boy puts his mask back on and looks at me as the other two draw swords, handing me an extra. The boy with the mask grabs me and tackles me down, roughly. The sky around us grows suddenly dark, thunder crashing down around us all. The boy laughs menacingly while I wonder what's going on and what to do. He yells back to the others in a mocking tone, "Hah! I have a hostage! Hurt me and the girl gets it!" I try to struggle free, wondering if this is all really just playing. I grab his throat, pressing against it tightly at the pressure points. He looks at me and mumbles quietly, "I'm not actually going to hurt you…don't worry, I'm just bluffing." A crack of thunder hits close by and I let go, grinning.
"What?" he says to me with great childlike features, much different from a moment ago. I look back, a sarcastic expression on my face.
"In that case," I lean my head back so the others can hear me as I yell, "It's ok, he's lying!"
"That wasn't very nice."
"Yeah…neither was you tackling an innocent bystander and threatening them." The others laugh as they approach us, tauntingly with their swords. I grab him by his side and throw him to the ground next to me, jumping up before he has a chance to get me. He raises his hand toward me, laughing as a gust of wind pushes me back just enough for him to grab my leg and send me falling to the ground. He gets up and places a foot on my back, lifting his hands into the air, symbolizing triumph. How did he do that? Is he a witch of some kind that I'm not familiar with? I grip onto the blades of grass and spin myself so that he falls as I jump up. The girl calmly walks over to him and points her sword at his forehead.
"Give up, Majora! You're one against four!" The first boy walks over and looks down at him, smirking. The last member comes over and pats my shoulder with a warm smile. I look back to the boy on the ground with a shocked face on, "You're name's Majora?" He shakes his head as he gets up, the sky clearing back up to its original form. "Nah, my name's Oracle. You can call me Link, though, if you'd like." I take my mask off and hand it to the other boy as Oracle does the same, pointing to him as well. "This is Keaton, and the girl is Washu," he points. I look over to the third member of their group, "What about him?"
He smiles and waves, quieter than the others, "I'm Scott." I wave back, feeling for the first time that I've met people I can be myself around. Oracle walks over to me and lays his arm on my shoulder. "You must be new if you don't at least know Washu or Keaton." I smile, lowering my gaze and nodding with a weak laugh.
"That's alright; I'm pretty new, too, I just got here last month or so." I give him a puzzled look, "That's new?"
"Yeah, you're considered a newbie for about a month. Is this your first day?" I nod and he nods back in approval. The others have begun to do their own thing, walking off while joking and laughing. I watch them, wondering where they're going, considering we're in the middle of nowhere. Oracle follows my gaze, giving me a slight push towards them. "I got to go for now but I'll be back later." I glance at the others then back to him, not sure of what he's talking about. Can these people not see we're in the middle of NOWHERE!? Obviously trying to read my confused look he adds, "Feel free to do whatever you like, no one really cares around here. You're free to do just about anything. Just don't get on anyone's bad side, ok? I like you and you're cool so it would really suck if you got kicked out so soon, hear me?" I raise an eyebrow, placing my hand on my side, sarcastic and mocking. He evidently doesn't know me very well; I can play my hand right. Plus, from what I've seen, everyone's really laid back and carefree. "Me, make trouble?" Smirking, he disappears in thin air, leaving me to gawk at this. What the—how did he do that?
I sigh, walking away. These people must have super-natural powers to do some of this stuff so I decide it'd be best to leave it be. I glance back once, half expecting him to be there when I turned around but he wasn't. I follow behind the others, lagging a ways behind for my own reasons. As I follow them, I notice a small grove that strangely appeals to me. Specifically, one tree appeals to me, a willow tree, hanging higher and more majestic than the others. I continue to eye the tree until it's out of sight. Surprisingly we reach an equally large lake quite quickly. The others are still laughing and playing as they push one another into the lake. I find a shady tree to sit under, willing to go somewhere else but unsure how or why. After all, I'm alone…not much I can do.
Keaton looks back at me and splashes some of the water my way yelling at me, "Come on!" I look down at my wet clothes then stand, still looking down. Washu looks over, now wondering about the situation, herself. They glance at each other and back to me. "Do you not like water?" Scott says as he stands in the shallow end. I walk over, smiling. "No, just thinking of how I'm going to get you back." I jump in the deep end, splashing them all the meanwhile. We played in the lake the rest of the day, just the four of us. I had never been happier in all my life.
Later on in the day, I got the courage to ask if they knew how Oracle had disappeared like that earlier and they laughed. They explained how everything was created from their imagination—this was unique to me. They were all amazing in my eyes and I would have loved to stay forever but I promised myself from the moment I arrived that I would never go back. I knew from the second I saw them that my parents were not going to be okay with all of this. After all, I was a twelve year old in an odd place with people I had just met out of nowhere. I felt like I had control over the situation, that I would just…leave and never go back. I was so naïve.