The snow was cold. The snow was thick. The snow was swirling. Through the rapidly falling snowflakes, Sarah could see a cave in the distance. "I bet that's where the guy who made all this snow lives," she told Link.
"Right," he said. After a bit more marching but with no talking, Link turned to Sarah. "I have an idea," he told Sarah.
"Not again. OK, what is it this time?"
Link whipped something out of his belt. A mask. Brown, tube mouth, with big sad eyes. "The Deku Scrub Mask," said Link. I only have one but we can both use it."
"Deku Scrub?" echoed Sarah.
Link gave her the mask. As soon as she put it on, Sarah felt the changes begin. So the mask was actually part of her skin. "What about you?"
"Hand me a nut," he said, holding out his hand. Sarah didn't understand, but she popped a Deku nut out of her tube mouth and gave it to him.
That's what Link used to turn into a scrub, but let me tell you about Sarah's transformation. First of all, she was shrinking. Shrinking rapidly. She could feel her orange Goron skin hardening and becoming wood. Her yellowish hair receded into her head. Her happy black eyes were lengthening, widening, saddening. She could feel them drooping on her face. Her mouth stretched out and puckered, the edges lifting out to become a tube thing. Bristly yellowish hair popped up on the top of her head, and she could feel the traditional Goron pattern springing on her back.
She turned to Link. "I still look like a Goron."
"Do I still look like Link?" And he did. Aside from the green elf hat, his boots were also there and even gloves that he hadn't even had on before. Plus his yellow hair was still there in long bangs under his back. Sarah had a flashback of when Link had turned into a Goron in the snow. She'd been semiconscious, but she'd seen the green hat yet again.
"Watch," said Link suddenly, grinning. He jumped up one, two, three times and did a little spin in the air, his green hat flying. He chose his landing spot a few feet away and then hopped five more times ahead of her. "Now you try."
Sarah took a deep breath, ran, and jumped into the air, trying to spin as Link had. She ended up falling on her butt.
"Not like that," said Link, helping her up. "Don't try so hard. Maybe if you just closed your eyes."
They spent the next few minutes hopping around in the snow. When Sarah got it Link called a break. "Dekus can hop like that on poisoned water," said Link as they lay, panting, in the snow. "Zoras can't swim through, and neither can Gorons."
"Zoras?" echoed Sarah.
"Water creatures. You'd like them," replied Link, grinning.
Light reflected from the mouth of the cave onto the snow. It looked comforting with all the light spilling on all this unnatural snow.
"You can take off the mask now," Link told Sarah.
"Huh?" she said. "How can I?"
"Just pull on your face," advised Link. "It'll come off."
"Sarah wasn't sure, but she did as Link asked. She gasped in amazement as she rose up to her natural size (but if you must know, it would sound better if I said 'dwindled' instead of rose up but that's not even true).
Link also pulled at his face and the mask came off, making him grow in almost the same instant. It was actually pretty cool and fluid, if you know what I mean. Anyway, Link tucked the mask into his belt.
"I'm ready," said Sarah.
So saying, they entered the cave.
