Heyo! I decided to edit the first chapter! There is little new content except alterations to the dialogue. I'm happy with the results and will continue to lightly edit each chapter as I work on the newest one.

For those reading for the first time, hello! I'm thewritinggoddess, also Nintelda (which I prefer), and thank you for giving my story a chance. I love these types of stories and hope that you like mine too.

Enjoy!


A world of hollow beings had always filled the fictional worlds of my books. They smiled, they wept, yet in the end they didn't exist, and they weren't meant to. I believed in different universes, but I often used it to imagine the endless possibilities of a conversation and not the endless troubles it could put me in.

The air was sweet with the taste of summer and heavy with its aroma that day. I sat on my back deck, my place of peace. A flash of light blinked in my peripheral and my eyes quickly darted into the vibrant green of the forest licking my backyard. I placed my book on the cushion of the chair and pushed up onto my toes from the fake wicker couch. Out there, between trunks of bark, was a flicker, pulsing through branches.

Every once in awhile it would appear, every few page turns, steal my gaze, calling for me before fading without my response. After I finished another chapter, it flashed again, brighter than before, longer. I held it in my gaze, watching where it came from.

Paranoid, I jumped up, swept my book off the couch, and went to wrestle my screen door open. It wasn't every day strange flashes of blue interrupted my reading time. In fact it never happened until that summer and I wasn't about to sit outside and get shot. Sometime every day the end of that June, I would be looking into my backyard and it would shutter again like an old camera.

As the door slid aside, I reached for the handle on the glass one, prying it open enough that I could slip into my house. I went to step through, but the moment I lifted my foot, I hit something. My toe fizzled with pain and when I tried to push through again, my body collided with an invisible wall. Confused, I turned around to the light, staring it down as it flickered and pulsed.

My parents were out, my brothers all moved away by then. The house was empty except for my two cats, one of whom blinked at me from inside. I put my book back down on the cushion and headed down the deck steps, running my fingers through the hair I hadn't yet brushed. The light had remained shifting and turning, blinking at me as I made my way across the yard.

When I reached the edge of the woods, I paused, worrying mildly about my bare feet. Before I could wonder about it for long, something shoved me in the back. I spun around, but nothing stood there and I took it as my cue to keep going.

Leaves crunched under foot as I wiped pine needles off my heels. Twigs dared me to press further so they could taste my blood, but I didn't once stop. Amongst the tree trunks, the light hid behind their endless cover, flickering, sometimes completely shrouded, other times split between branches. For a second I wondered if anyone would be able to hear me scream under this dense canopy. I quickly shook the thought away and kept moving.

The light grew wider and dimmer until I saw it, close enough that it could no longer hide behind the underbrush. I halted briefly, catching my breath before jogging up. It glowed a soft blue, its surface like glass. Inside, the light seemed to flow like a liquid.

My hand reached out gently, but when my feet didn't move to bring it all the way, I froze. My legs shook and I didn't step away until the sound of crunching leaves rang from somewhere behind me. As I checked, seeing once more nothing there, a bit of sense knocked into me and I started to walk away. Someone, however, had a different idea and the moment I went, my legs flew out from underneath me.

I landed on my butt, staring back into the woods the way I came. Perhaps my delusions had caught up to me. My chest quivered as I got back up. Everything shook violently as I willed myself to reach back out, my body refusing to do as I knew I was being told. As I took one last step to bring my hand to the smooth surface, an intense chill jolted down my arm and into my whole being. I didn't see anything that followed, my vision had snapped to a blur, but something grabbed my arm. In the last blurred rays of light filtering into my eyes I only felt a hand wrench me forward before I was swallowed by blue, then nothing but black.

There was a taste of death on my lips as my senses faded into nothing.

A blinding light filtered onto my pupils as a sharp pain struck my chest and raced through my veins. My stomach lurched and the fit of coughing that erupted from my lungs didn't do much to help it. Lapping over my legs was water, shallow, soothing. When my coughing didn't stop I doubled over into it.

The movement of blood in my body was tangible as everything curled into each other, my limbs tingling like they'd just woken up after a deep sleep. A war was going on between my senses. Fumbling with my weak muscles, I finally came around to the sharper edges of the painting drawn before me. I was in a shallow spring, water of a crystal blue hue, sand almost white. The light drew out a deeper headache from my skull.

In the midst of panic, I sent all my strength to my legs, but even that was no use, I stumbled back into the water. It seemed there I would stay.

No matter how long I waited, the numb sensation in my legs didn't go away, and no matter the number of attempts, I couldn't stand. Another attempt brought more pins and needles that jabbed themselves into my feet all the way up to my thighs. I found myself back in the water, my own two legs had given out from underneath me.

It was only then that my breath started to shiver and topple in and out of my lungs. Faster every second. Around me I saw nothing but the spring as I was blocked in by a round of small cliffs that yanked out any hope I had of figuring out where I was. Over, far away, I saw a huge open floral gate that lead into a forest. Above the white noise of cascading water, I heard a patter like the footsteps of two people running in close sync.

I sat up, eyes fallen into the trees just beyond the only gateway. If someone was coming, they'd come by there. As the thudding grew louder, I could discern it as hoof beats. My throat rasped, trying to muster a shout. I heard the pounding grow louder and I repeated myself, managing to scream for help. Each shout died off, quieter than the last. My crying had arisen from a quiet place and it remained soft as I tried to continue.

Passed the opening of the clearing rushed passed a figure once the gallop reached a peak. I stopped pleading, my fist buried into the sand and my lip stuck between my teeth, waiting, wondering. The whinny of a horse echoed, the trees pausing in their dance with the wind. A hush came with the breeze.

From the corner of the gate emerged a young man. His posture was nearly regal, he walked as if he carried a cape in tow. Despite this, his eyes were soft, seeking mine in the pool of the spring. Eyebrows drawn, he asked, "Were you the one calling for help?"

I searched for my voice after his, entranced by the tamber, that of a howl flowing through a forest. Its ring caught me in a familiarity, the more I looked around, the more the man before me formed something I'd seen before. I found no words to say at all as tears punched at my eyes once again.

From the shore, the young man called out once more, "Hey, are you okay?"

"I-" my lips shut themselves when he took a step forward, a brown boot disturbing the water. In his widened gaze I found a pair of blue eyes, two crystals that glimmered in the sunlight. From long, pointed ears dangled earrings, small loops the same color as the sky. In these features alone I could find a world, a world I knew very well. "I can't feel my legs." My head grew light and I nearly fainted into sobs.

"Let me help," he offered, concern washing over his face.

I took a deep breath, croaking, "Okay."

The young man who I was only a stranger to stepped towards me and reached down for my arms. Even through his best efforts to hold me upright, I found no good enough hold in the sand to keep myself on my feet. Before I could tumble back into the water below, he'd caught me in a suffocating embrace.

"Can you walk at all?"

I restrained myself from wiping my nose on his green tunic before moving my face sideways so I could see the spring, "I don't think so."

He sighed and I felt his breath hot against the top of my head, "I could carry you." He paused, clarifying, "If you're comfortable with that."

His chest rose up and down. I tried to make mine go to the same rhythm, but my lungs quivered far too much. I got no break as my heart resounded in my ears, calling out every familiar thing in view until I could come to terms with it all. Until I could believe it. I had seen it all before, but I didn't dare say from where. Not until I asked a question and heard its reply loud and clear. "What's your name?"

"Link," he replied smoothly.

The world tripped over itself and slammed me down into the ground. I could hear the names of people and places laughing at me as if they were a part of the childish game they came from. They sat vivid on my tongue, lucid in the trees. Hyrule had consumed my feet in its waters and filled my lungs with its humid air.

Memories of sitting on the couch in a bored delusion of nostalgia had surged back to me and briefly I watched myself play Legend of Zelda when I thought nothing about if the place my hands guided the character of Link through was real somewhere. Each game flicked by, and my absent eyes mingled finally on an image of twilight before I was prodded away.

"Are you okay?" Link tried to drag my body up further to see my face, but I didn't cooperate and slid back down. "I don't have a lot of time, we need to get going."

I found the air still once more, daring me to shake it, and I did. For once, the air bent to my will, and it talked for me. "Okay." In a single moment I had my hands clasped at the back of his neck, and I felt weightless in his arms.

He walked out of the spring and onto a dirt road that lead through the forest. I could make out a clearing just up ahead, passed a tall horse only a few paces away. She was a rusty red with a white mane. I bit my lip at the sight, preventing further shock from coursing through my brain.

As we passed her, Link whistled sharply and nodded his head forward. She began following.

As if all of this was an orchestrated normality, he began talking to me, casually, but never looking down. "Where are you from?"

I scowled at his hair now, marveling at how dirty blonde and high definition it was while trying to decide whether to tell the truth or not. "A small town up north."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's it called?"

I took a deep breath of the coniferous air, finding myself content with its smell and the newfound coolness its canopy of leaves gave in its shadow, "Farenfield, in Massachusetts. It's far away."

"From Hyrule?"

The light of the clearing I'd seen met my eyes and my calm demeanor dropped at the sight of Link's house. "Yeah..." I fell silent. My body meditated there, peaceful for just enough time before I felt like crying again.

"What's your name?" he inquired, softly looking down at me like I was a doll. All I could do to see him in front of the sun was squint.

"Maizy."

He narrowed his eyes as he stopped walking. "Maizy, huh...I've never heard that before."

"Oh, sorry," I murmured.

"No, it's pretty." He looked back up, widening his eyes, and getting back to his business. I sat, left leaning against the massive tree trunk that was his inherent house while he settled his horse into place and went to go grab something from inside. Ahead of the clearing, a small hill of land rose, haphazardly shoveled to level ground to create a pathway into what I could tell was a small grouping of houses.

Halfway through sitting there and contemplating, my legs regained feeling. I was picking at the grass, trying to bite at my racing heat before he came out again. It had felt like blood had cascaded down them, smacking rocks as they fell. It was painful and they remained sore afterward, but I could move them. Rather than just stand, I remained glued to my place, deciding whether to lie or not once Link would come out.

"You alright?" he said as he shut the door.

"Yeah."

Link turned around and kneeled down beside me. "You sure?"

I nodded.

"Okay. Well, there's a mayor in Ordon who can help you out if you just need a place to rest or anything." He looked at me oddly for a moment, "But...if you need my help, I could figure something else out."

"Yeah...yeah, I'll think about it. Sounds uh...sounds fine," I muttered just loud enough. His movements swept around like a dream. Each step and glare looked like an odd fuzzy blur, ethereal. Strange. He picked me up off my abled feet, heading towards town.

As he strolled on I tore my eyes away from his face and watched as something entirely old became something new. In the game version of Ordon, there were only a few colorful houses, all of odd shapes and containing odd people. With the sun it was impossibly warm and homely. I could smell the pumpkins that grew across the area in small patches. Although no person graced my sight while I watched, I could find the love of the people as it laced the atmosphere and suffocated me.

Passed a small stream sat a house with a waterwheel. I felt its familiar tick grasp me, but it's wooden grain had gained more color since the last time. Behind the house itself was acres of crops, mostly pumpkin patches, yet it was the largest part of the town.

"Do you live here?" I asked in awe.

"Yeah." We crossed the stream as he headed toward this large house surrounded by fencing. Beyond it led towards another set of risen cliffs. There was an opened pathway that came up like a ramp with an arch that bore a sign. Though I could not read Hylian, I remembered the way to the ranch.

"It's nice."

Link entered the yard of the large house, stepping up onto the porch as if visiting an old friend. His arm came out and attempted his best knock on the door with his hand that was on my back.

After a moment, a portly man answered the door, saving me the grace of having to sit in silence with Link. The man looked happy, briefly, before concern took over and he plagued us with an onslaught of questions. Particularly asking of Link, and not me.

"Calm down, Bo, I'll explain everything, I just need a favor first." He gave a reassuring smile. Between all the awkward circumstances, I was surprised at how convincing it was.

"I'm sorry, the town has been in a panic." Bo waved us inside, sniffling slightly and twitching the horns jutting out of his cheeks up and down. "What do you need?"

The foyer was cozy with a couple chairs and bookcases near a brick fireplace. Ahead was a closed pair of doors, to the right a stairwell, and to the left an open bedroom.

"I found this girl at the spring. She says she's far away from home and can't feel her legs. All she needs is a place to stay until she gets better." Link glanced at something. "I know you have a room."

The mayor nodded solemnly, gesturing toward the open door. "We're no strangers to guests, she can stay however long she needs. But, why don't you talk to Uli and Rusl too, they're certainly more hospitable."

"It won't be long, I'm sure." Link twisted his lips, biting for the original reason he came, "But um, I need to talk in private for a moment, then I have to be on my way again."

Bo nodded and went to go sit in one of the chairs. Meanwhile, Link carried me into the abandoned room. Inside stood simply a bed, a dresser, and a mirror. A window on the wall strung covered in elegant green curtains that matched the sheets on the bed. An awfully feminine sense of design somehow shrouded the room in gloom. Link's jaw tensed looking at it.

He let me go onto my feet and, pretending I had no balance, I plopped into the bed, heels firmly pressed against the wood. I was still partially soaked in water and I shivered, but there was nothing that could warm me.

"I need to know what happened." Link stood over me intimidatingly.

I found it hard to form words all of a sudden. "I don't know, I was walking through the forest, I saw a blue light, and I touched it." I shrugged. "Next thing I know I wake up and my legs-"

"Was the light black and blue?"

"No, just blue." I cracked my thumbs, tapping each of my fingers against my knees. After staring at my hands I lifted my eyes back up.

"You've never been here?" Link stared me straight in the eyes. It was surreal, like we were grasping a hold on each other's existence. I didn't tear away from it.

I chose my words carefully, "I've...seen this place before."

"In what way? Books? Have you read about us, have you visited Ordon?" His eyebrows were drawn together.

I shook my head. "I-I know about this place. I've been here."

A deep breath filled him. In a second he broke our eye contact and was looking at the door. "We can discuss more later." He watched me as I pulled a leg up to the bed and hugged it. I tried to hold his stare, thinking he saw something I didn't. Suddenly, he asked, "Your legs are feeling better?"

My face instantly lost color, deciding to quickly bore holes into the floor with my gaze, "Uh...Uh, yeah."

"Um...good." He turned away quickly, but I dropped my foot like the dead weight it used to be and called out to him.

"Link, wait!" I could tell he found me crazy, and maybe it was best if I lost him so I could wake up from this dream. But I knew, the prick of wood in my feet and the touch of rough fabric under my hands were too distinct. My way home wasn't simply waking up, and whether the real path intertwined with Link's, I wouldn't know unless I tried.

His foot stuck itself in a spot where water had dripped off from my hair, his gaze fluttered back to me for one more second.

I hesitated there, but I found my mouth somehow, and I made it speak, questioning, "Do you-do you know what twilight is?"

I could see the recognition flash in his eyes and I held onto it, listening closely to his reply. "The time of day when two worlds become one."

There was a bounce in his step as he left the room, equipment clinking together on his back. I watched his shield disappear behind the door.

In the moments that followed I recollected the past hour. With each memory triggered a new influx of tears. I cried, worry choking up in my throat. When would my parents get home and wonder where I went? My glasses became smudged and soon enough I took them off. When I placed them down, my eye caught on the mirror. It was angled so I only saw my legs, but as I stood up, my body filled its full view.

My brown hair was a mess, not only wet, but knotted all over. I checked around the room for a brush and on the dresser sat a dusty one, painted a glassy green. It was primitive looking compared the the ones at home, but nonetheless, I began the process of untangling all my knots, however, nothing kept my eyes away from my shorts and t-shirt. They lingered, wondering what I could possibly do to change them so I wouldn't stand out. In the end I couldn't bring myself to think of getting rid of them.

They reminded me of home already.

I instead began to fascinate myself with my acne that wove itself between a sea of freckles. Around my green eyes was a deep flushed red from my crying. The familiar puffy look only brought me further into gloom. After that I just threw myself onto the bed, shut my eyes, and nearly fell asleep as I waited there for Link.

Soon enough the thoughts that he wouldn't come back for me came rushing in, but then I heard his voice followed by laughter. It took a lot out of my tired head, but I managed to sit up and listened carefully as their voices grew louder, then passed by my door. I heard thank you's, then I heard a goodbye before the room outside my door fell silent. The front door creaked open, then slowly, it shut.

My breath left me, my legs carried me onto my feet, and I nearly sprinted towards the bedroom door before it swung open. Link hovered in the doorway, staring at me. Neither of us spoke.

With tension in his movements, he shut the door. It was like he was thawing, moving slowly, staring at the floor, then finally, he exhaled, and looked at me. "You brushed your hair."

I brought my arms up to my chest, wrapping my hands together. "Uh, yeah I did."

"You can stand now?"

"Ever since you put me on the ground in front of your house." I clenched my teeth. "I don't know how I got here." The soreness in my legs weighed on me in that moment, but I didn't quiver. "I'm sorry."

Link sighed, "It's okay."

"About earlier…" I took a deep breath, trying to come up with an explanation on the spot. This had to hold up, I needed to give him a reason as to why I knew about him, and maybe even things about the future. Maybe a half truth would be enough. "In Farenfield, your world is a work of fiction. I've uh...read it all."

Link scowled at me. "How am I supposed to believe that? You have some prophetic book where you're from?"

I took a step back. "Look, I'm just as confused as you are. One minute I'm reading a book, the next I'm here." My words resounded like poetry in my ears. He began tapping his toes into the floor. There were no words to say, they'd all been taken from him. "I didn't lie about how I came here and I don't know how to get home. There has to be a reason that I got put somewhere I know about, this world revolves around you so it must be something that has to do with you. Or Midna."

His eyes widened. "How do you know about her?"

A cut in his voice sliced at me. I raised up my hands defensively, trying desperately to talk through the muddled puddle of my mouth. "I told you. I read this story. I know how it goes. I don't know why I'm here, but it must have to do with you."

Hesitance. He didn't reply, scanning me over, my red knobby knees and scabbed elbows from diving one too many times in volleyball. What did I look like to him? Maybe an older cousin asking you if you remembered them. Who was I to know who he was? Maybe my pleas were futile.

"You can come, but you have a lot of explaining to do."

The weight on my chest lifted. "Really?"

Link shrugged, affirming, "I'm not cruel. I'll give you a chance, but you need to give me a better explanation."

I nodded vigorously, assuring him I could clarify it all, though I didn't know how I would. We walked out of the house together, me trailing behind him, still caught up in the complexion of his skin, the sway of his dirty blonde hair, the realness of it all.

On the way back through town he explained that we were headed to Death Mountain and that I was to stay as out of the way as possible at all times until I could fend for myself. The sense that I was in over my head submerged me, but nonetheless I kept walking. Something in my chest lead me forward.

Like someone's voice was speaking to me inside my own head.