Short chapter for ya. Enjoy!
Standing behind Link, Sora saw blue light suddenly erupt from the pedestal. A sound surrounded them unlike Sora had ever heard. It was an ever ascending and shimmering noise that accompanied the ethereal scene. Link held to the sword tightly and Sora almost felt like he was being pushed back, but a far brighter light suddenly engulfed them, making the spiky haired boy cover his eyes. He felt like his head was spinning, and could have sworn that he fell.
When he finally came to, Sora almost stumbled realizing his feet were back on solid ground. Over by the Master Sword, he saw a green-clad boy who promptly turned around, letting go of the hilt. Sora gasped at the sight. It was undoubtedly Link! All the facial features matched, though they were much softer and full of youth. Not to mention that his arms and legs were about half of the length that he remembered.
"Link, you shrunk!" Sora declared, then hearing his voice being higher pitched than normal, he covered his mouth in surprise.
Link looked over with less surprise than Sora seemed to harbor at that moment, watching the boy while he looked down at his clothes. Link couldn't help but notice that his garments had changed to a significantly more… simple look. There were no longer belts and zippers littered over his clothes, but now just a simple white shirt with blue ends, red shorts and sandals. He was stood much shorter than he used to- even shorter than Link in his small form, and that was saying something.
"I shrunk too!" Sora proclaimed in awe. His contagious smile found its way back onto his face. "I guess the time travel thing really works, huh? This is wild! I remember when I grew out of these clothes!" He laughed, looking over at himself. "Seven years, right?"
"Right." Link affirmed.
"I guess that makes me… seven? Or nine? Somewhere in there." Sora laughed softly, posing with his hands behind his head as he looked up at the light filtering in through the windows above the pedestal of time. "It looks a lot sunnier out there."
Link nodded back, starting to walk back toward the door of time. "You'll see that a lot has changed."
"I'm ready." Sora told Link as he held his hand out. Sora was ready to be the steadfast partner that Link seemed to need to confront the world's danger. The keyblade suddenly appeared in his hands, albeit, a slightly shorter one. Sora noticed that it seemed to shrink to stay in proportion with his body.
"Actually…" Link stopped at the edge of the temple, holding his hand out toward Sora. "You won't be needing that."
"But… the re-deads?" Sora asked, confused.
"Just trust me." Link told the other boy, turning to guide him to the market.
/o\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
To say that the market surprised Sora would have been an understatement. As Link walked into the bustling crowd of people, Sora stood frozen on the steps that he'd descended from the Temple of Time. He couldn't believe his eyes. The place had been transformed into a beautiful town, bursting with laughter, dancing, and even music. Not wanting to be alone in the crowd, he hurried to follow alongside of Link. "This place is amazing! What- what happened?" He asked, looking over to Link as they carried forward.
"Between the time we just left and the one we're in now, Ganon took over the kingdom and… well… seven years later… nothing but re-deads." Link explained, trying not to sound too overly grim about the situation, despite the reality of it.
Just for a moment, Sora's smile faltered as he realized the implication of what Link was hinting at. "Oh." He whispered, looking forward for a moment. They were about to walk out of the market when Sora suddenly stopped in place. "But… you know, there's no reason not to enjoy it while we can, right?"
Link shot him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
Sora held his hand out to the crowd behind him. "Well, things may not always be great, but they're great right now. Why don't we enjoy it for a bit? Seven years seems really far away now and smiling is good for us. This place looks like it has fun for us to have, so we should treat ourselves."
Maybe it was the kid in him that seemed to resurface at the loss of seven years, but Link could see the point in what Sora was getting at. "Well, there's always Bombchu Bowling."
Sora balled his hand into a fist and held it high in a victorious pose. "Lead the way!" He proclaimed, glad to have gotten through to Link.
Link showed Sora the way to the alley and the two took turns operating the Bombchus. Link was pretty good at the game and Sora seemed to learn quickly, but even after several attempts, neither of them won. Either way, they seemed to get a little closer each time, which gave them both a personal sense of victory. The game was hard, after all. They left the alley laughing, which was worth every rupee spent, in Link's mind. The two of them meandered around the market a little longer, petting the stray dogs there and trying out some of the various foods that could be purchased. With smiles on their face, Link decided they had dawdled a little too long, and the two started along the way to Kakariko.
Thanks, all. Sorry for the delay. I do realize that I began and finished college between these updates, but that had a lot to do with why I wasn't updating, so… glad to be back.