The Cost of Adventure
Dipper floated down in front of the Great Deku Trembley.
"Well done, Dipper. Thou has verily demonstrated thy courage. I knew that thou wouldst be able to carry out my wishes. Now I have a story to tell thee. Wouldst thou listen?"
"Sure."
"Hey, you can talk!" Mabel exclaimed.
"Well, yeah."
"E-excuse me."
"Why haven't you said anything until now?"
Dipper grunted in an uncertain fashion.
"I don't know. Just didn't feel like it."
"I, uh, I have something to say."
"What d'ya mean you didn't feel like it?"
"I don't know. I just didn't. Why is this a big deal?"
"Do you know how hard it is to work in a vacuum? Your silence sucking the fun out of adventuring? I need verbal recognition!"
"Well so~orry if I forget to speak from time to time. I'm more the analytical type. I do a lot of thinking, you know?"
"SILENCE." Rumbled the Great Deku Trembley.
"Eep!"
"Now, listen carefully. A wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me."
An image formed in Dipper's mind, an image of a sinister man clothed in black and yellow, wearing an eye-patch, riding through fire on a demonic horse.
"This man ceaselessly uses his vile, sourcerous powers in search for the Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule. For it is in that Sacred Realm that one will find the Divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods.
"Before time began, before life and spirits existed… Three golden gods descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule… Time Baby, the god of power, Love God, the god of wisdom (and love!), Multi-Bear, the god of courage… Time Baby, with his paracosmic power, he created the land and fertilized the brown earth. Love God, poured his wisdom (and love!) onto the earth and gave the spirit of law; what can and can't, should and shouldn't be done, to the world. Multi-Bear, with his rich Soul*, produced all life forms, mundane and strange, who would uphold the law.
"The three gods, their labours completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the gods left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence. And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm.
"Thou must never allow the man in black and yellow armour to lay his hands on the sacred triforce. Thou must never suffer that man, with his evil heart, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend. That evil man who cast the death curse on me and sapped my power. Because of that curse, my end is nigh. Though your valiant efforts were successful, I was doomed before you started. Yes, I will pass away soon. But do not grieve for me. I have been able to tell you of these important matters. This is Hyrule's final hope. Dipper, go now to Hyrule Castle. There thou wilt surely meet the princess of of Destiny. Take this book with thee, the stone that man wanted so much that he cast the curse upon me."
A green light shone from above and enveloped Dipper. He looked up to see a journal floating down to him. He reached up, and clutched the book with both hands. It was red. Sort of a burgundy-ish? With a golden triangle on it. And inscribed on the triangle, an emerald green number three.
"Whoa…"
Dipper gazed upon it with reverence. So transfixed was he that he gave a start when the Great Deku Trembley started speaking again.
"The future depends upon thee, Dipper. Thou art courageous. Ma'be the fairy, help Dipper to carry out my will. I entreat thee… Ma'be… Good-bye…"
The Great Deku Trembley's leaves started to wilt and turn brown. His bark turned a sickly grey colour. The was a great crackling sound, as if the tree's essence was going being crushed underfoot by a particularly lovely autumn maple leaf. Then, as the last crackling echoes died away, the was silence in the forest. The Great Deku Trembley died.
"L-let's go t-to Hyrule castle, Dipper!"
"Yeah." Dipper nodded and started heading back.
Mabel looked back one last time.
"Good-bye… Great Deku Trembley…"
Then she zipped off after Dipper.
When Dipper got back to the village, Robbie was waiting for him.
"Hey, Dipper! What did you do?! The great Deku Trembley… Did he… Did he die? How could you let that happen?! Not cool, man. Not cool!"
"H-hey! I didn't-"
But Robbie had already stomped off, presumably to spread word of Dipper's incompetence.
"Don't worry, Dipper." Mabel consoled. "The Great Deku Trembley knows- knew… You tried your best. Don't let that jerk get you down. Come on, let's go to the castle."
Dipper walked through town, ignoring the glares he was getting from the other Kokiri children. Truth be told, as unbearable as it was being ignored, it was worse being despised. He was always treated differently for not having a fairy before. But now that he had one, he kinda hoped the others would come around to him.
Finally, he got to the bridge that connected Kokiri Forest to the rest of Hyrule. It didn't span any water, but rather a lower level of the forest itself. It was quite a drop, and into a tricky part of the forest as well. It was known as the Lost Woods. Dipper had heard stories about Kokiris who had gone wandering off without telling anyone, and got turned into skeletons by some arcane forces. Dipper was glad the bridge had a railing.
When Dipper was about half-way across the bridge, he heard an understanding voice behind him.
"So, you're leaving…"
Dipper whirled around. "Wendy!"
"I figured you'd leave someday. You're different from me and my friends." At Dipper's downcast look, she added, "That's a good thing, Dummy. You'd better not stop being my friend, like, ever. Okay?" Dipper smiled and nodded. "Here, take this to remember me by."
She handed Dipper an ocarina. It was small, sort of potato-shaped, with differently sized holes in it. It was also pink.
"Remember me and the forest whenever you play it, alright?"
"Oh! Uh, Y-yeah. Thanks!…" Dipper nodded, backed away slowly, then turned and ran.
"And don't forget to visit!"
The 'gate,' if you will, between Kokiri forest and Hyrule field was a large, hollowed-out log. It acted as a tunnel so that when Dipper stepped out of it, the bright sunlight from the cloudless field half-blinded him.
This was it. The farthest he'd been from home. There was an unspoken rule that the Kokiris never left the forest. It was unspoken by the Great Deku Trembley. You know, for their protection.
"This is it."
"Well, Hoo-hoo-Hoody!"
"Uwaah!" Dipper looked up in alarm to see a large, ruffled owl. With a bandage on its beak.
"Hoody, Dipper! You kno't know me, but I'm a crazy old owl who knows more'n he should! Hoo hoo HAH! It appears the time has finally come for you to start yer advent'r. Yoo'll encount'r many hardships ahead… That's yer fate. Don't get all down an' stuff!
"If you go straight this-a way," the owl pointed north with some dorsal feathers, "yoo'll see Hy-Rule Castle. Yoo'll meet a princess there. She'll have a task for ya, which no one else can pull off. Take heart, and hear this warning: be wary of th' man with one eye." To emphasize this detail, the owl shut one eye and opened the other in a comically large fashion.
"Alright then, I'll see ya around! Hoot hoot hoo!" Then the owl flapped his weathered wings, and soared off, mysteriously.
"Well, that was odd."
"Agreed."
Dipper and Mabel set off on the path leading to Hyrule castle; a travel-worn dirt trail through the field grass.
It wasn't a long journey. Hyrule Field was just that, a field. It only took about an hour to get where you needed to go. Dipper crested the last hill and could see the portcullis gates of Castle Town. It was magnificent.
There was one guard posted, but he didn't give Dipper any trouble. He probably didn't think of Dipper as much of a threat. There was a room off to the side of the gate, probably a guardhouse.
The door was ajar.
Dipper peeked in.
"Whoa."
Dipper had never seen so many jars in one place! They were everywhere! On the desk, on crates, on the floor, on window ledges. Jars everywhere! Dipper walked in to get a better look-
Smash! Ching!
Dipper managed to cringe and look puzzled at the same time- not an easy feat.
There on the floor, amongst the broken shards of a clay jar, was a green rupee. Dipper picked it up. Ŕ5.
"Huh." Dipper picked up another jar to look inside, and dropped it.
Smash! Ching!
"Careful, Dingus!" Mabel chided. "Ooh, money!"
A blue rupee lay amongst the shattered remains of the second jar. Ŕ10.
"This is weird…" Dipper looked around while walking in further. He wasn't watching where he was walking (ordinarily a mistake, but we'll see where this goes) and bumped into a crate. On the crate were two jars, which fell off, broke, and knocked over three more jars on the ground, which shattered, and then dominoed into a wave of jars being knocked over and broken.
Sma-smash! Chi-ching! Sma-sma-smash! Chi-chi-ching! Sma-sma-chi-chi-sma-sma-sma-chi-chi-sma-chi-sma-chi-chi-sma-sma-chi-chi-ching!
The resulting green and blue carnage awarded Dipper a further 33 rupees, bringing his total up to Ŕ43.
"Hey! Who's in there?!"
Dipper escaped through a window before the guard came in. As he ran into town he heard the guard exclaim in the distance "My jar collection! Noooooo!"
"Well, we're never going back there again!" Mabel shouted as they fled.
Dipper nodded, looked behind to make sure the guard wasn't chasing him, got distracted by Mabel shouting, and collided with a poor girl with pigtails looking the other way.
"Ouch!"
"Oof!"
"Watch where you're goi- …Hey."
Dipper shook his head of the rupees dancing around it and looked up into the wide eyes of a girl almost as cute as Wendy.
"Uh…" was all Dipper could say.
"Your clothes, they're different. You're not from around here, are you?"
"Uh, no. I'm not." Dipper shook his head.
"Oh… You're a fairy boy from the forest!" The girl stated.
"He he he, 'Fairy Boy.' That's you, Dipper." Mabel snickered.
Dipper shot her a quick glare before turning back to apologize to the girl with pigtails for bumping into her.
"That's alright, I'm fine. My name is Emma Sue.* My dad owns Oink Oink Ranch. Dad went up to the castle to deliver some lard and bacon, but he hasn't come back yet…"
Dipper promised to tell her dad she was looking for him if he saw him on his way to the castle. But before that…
"Let's have a look around town, Dipper." Mabel said.
"Yeah, okay. Maybe I can learn more about this black-and-yellow-clad man."
Dipper walked around the town's marketplace, Mabel floating over his shoulder, asking about a dark man wearing yellow and black. Some of the locals saw a man like that stride right up to the castle without stopping, escorted by women from the desert, but no one knew much about the affair. Dipper checked the shops, a bazaar, a colourful mask shop, and a couple skill game places, but the man didn't seem interested in shopping or games.
Leaving town square thoroughly investigated, Dipper decided to go to the castle. The road between the castle and the town was rather rural. Just a plain dirt path with a gate, some guards, and here and there a tree or two. At the top of one of the tree was a mysterious shape. Dipper looked closely, then staggered back in shock.
"Hoo-hoo-hoody! Hey there, Dipper! Up here! Lookit me! Are ya goin' to the castle? There's a princess up there on the inside. Be careful 'round the guards, though. You're a smart kid, I know you can get in! Hoo-hoot!"
And the owl flew off, again, as mysteriously as he appeared.
Dipper looked around. Around the corner from the gate was some ivy he could climb. It appeared as though the ledge that the ivy led up to bypassed the guards. He started climbing. Dipper crawled across the ledge so as not to be seen by the guards below.
"One, two, three, four. I declare a thumb war. Five, six, seven, eight. If you lose, please don't hate."
"One, two, three, four. I declare a thumb war. Five, six, seven, eight. If you lose, please don't hate."
"Hwatcha! Ooh! I'm gonna… Look out…"
"Aiieee! Oh yeah! Hey, watch out for… this…"
"Aw yeah!"
"Aw shucks!"
"Looks like I win again, Durling."
"How do you always win at this, Blubs?"
"Years of practice. Now come on, let's go again!"
"Okay!"
Wow. Dipper thought. I'm glad these guys are on guard duty. If they were competent, I wouldn't stand a chance.
Dipper crept right by without being spotted by either of them. He'd gotten well past the gate, and dropped down on the other side to follow a narrow dirt road up to the palace. Things were going well. The other guards were wandering around, probably on regular shifts, and created just enough gaps for Dipper to get to a second pair of gates. But before he could get much farther, someone grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! You need a royal invitation to see the King!"
The guard lifted Dipper bodily off the ground ("Hey! Let me go!") and carried him to the outer gate, and threw him out. The gate guards, Blubs and Durland, looked surprised.
"And don't come back unless you're invited! And what were you two doing while this miscreant was stalking the castle grounds? You've got a lot of explaining to do, gentlemen."
Dipper would have felt sorry for the other two guards, if his butt wasn't aching from his landing on the hard ground.
Dipper got up, rubbing a sore spot, and started walking back towards town to think of a better idea.
"Are you going to the castle, Fairy Boy?"
"Wa-huh?"
Lost in thought, Dipper walked right past the pigtails girl without seeing her. What was her name again? Gemma? Zue? Emma Sue? Oh yeah!
"Did you find my dad?"
"No, not yet. Sorry," Dipper apologized.
"Oh well. He must have fallen asleep somewhere around the castle. Can you believe he's an adult? Ha hah! Oh yeah, since you looked anyway I'll give this to you. I've been incubating this egg very carefully."
Emma Sue handed a large egg to Dipper. It felt warm in his hands.
"It'll probably hatch soon."
Dipper wrapped the egg carefully and put it snuggly in his rucksack. Then he flashed a smile at Emma Sue and, to look like he was still doing something, went back to climb the ivy.
Once back on the ledge, Dipper got away from the edge, sat down and started to plan his route through the guards.
Mabel woke with a yawn.
"Eeyaawww… Mornin' Dipper… Dipper?"
Dipper had bags under his eyes. He was staring at some complicated diagram drawn in the dirt with a stick. Every so often, he'd mumble something.
"Dipper. Have you been up all night?"
"Yup. Planning."
"That's not good! How are you going to sneak past the guards if you can't even stay awake?"
"I'm fine. I do well with minimal sleep." Dipper waved her off and concentrated all the harder on his diagram. After a few more seconds, he stood up and dusted his hands together with a confident look on his weary face.
"O-kay."
"You know how to get past the guards?" Mabel asked. Dipper nodded. "Well, alright. Let's get moving th-"
Crrick. Crrack.
A crackling sound came from Dipper's rucksack.
"Is that the egg that Emma girl gave you yesterday?"
Dipper took the egg out of the rucksack. It had a couple of small cracks in it. But nothing more happened. Dipper shrugged and put it back into his bag. He slung the bag around his shoulder, then slid down the ledge and put his plan into action.
It was simple, really. All he needed to do was duck and weave through bushes, avoiding the gaze of all the guards. And if they were looking where he needed to go, he'd throw a pebble somewhere far away, and they'd turn to see what caused the noise. Mabel was a little concerned that it took him all night to think up such a simple plan.
When he got to the second gate, he didn't walk up to it, instead opting to go around to an easily climbable ledge that dropped off on the other side. Once he was past the second gate, he was home-free. There were no guards in here. The main portcullis was darwn up, so Dipper couldn't go in the front way- it'd be too obvious, anyway. Dipper went around the side of the castle.
Up ahead was a figure lying prone on the ground with crates full of supplies all around him. Upon closer inspection, the crates appeared to be from Oink Oink Ranch.
"This must be Emma Sue's father."
Sure enough, the snoring man gave a jerk and said in his sleep, "Emma, Darlin,' five more minutes…"
Dipper tried nudging him awake with his boot, but the man seemed to be a sound sleeper.
C-crriick! C-c-craack!
Dipper pulled the egg out of his rucksack again. The cracks were bigger, and there were more of them. Suddenly, the egg jiggled in Dipper hands. Mabel flew in for a closer look.
"Do you think it's gonna…?"
The egg wobbled and cracked a few more times until…
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOO!"
"What! Hey, who's there? Can't a guy get some sleep around here? Oh, hello, kid."
"Do you own a ranch?"
"Yeah, I'm the owner of Oink Oink Ranch. I came to deliver bacon and lard. Guess I fell asleep."
"You know, your daughter is looking for you. She asked me to find you and make sure you got her message to come home." Dipper said.
"Huh? Emma Sue was lookin' fer me? Oh no, I left mah child alone in th' city! I'm a bad parent!" Then he ran off shouting "Emma Suuuueeee! I'mma cooooomin'!"
Dipper shook his head at the retreating father in disappointment. Then he yawned and looked around.
The chicken that had come from Emma Sue's egg (fully grown, oddly enough) was watching him expectantly.
"I think it wants to come with us." Mabel remarked.
"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have another little friend on this adventure."
Dipper picked up the chicken and nestled it down in his rucksack. He looked around again, looking specifically for an entrance.
There was a metal door to his right, but it was tightly locked. Nearby, an aqueduct was flowing out of one of the walls and into the castle's moat. The opening where the water was coming from looked big enough to crawl through…
Dipper pushed the crates of bacon and lard into the moat. The first one floated, but the addition of the second crate was enough to sink the first and build a closer platform to the aqueduct. Dipper climbed on top of the second crate, judged the distance with his fingers, then crouched, and leapt. He slipped on the aqueduct opening, but managed to catch himself before he fell into the water. Dipper pulled himself fully into the opening, and began to crawl.
*And exquisite music taste
*I feel I should explain this character choice. The trouble with some video games, is that they tend to be harem-esque. there are many more female characters than male characters. I had to do a bit of improvising to pick enough recurring characters to be in which roles. Malon has a rather minor role, story-wise. So she gets to be a side character from the weird tourist trap escapade episode.
A/N: It's been suggested that I make Dipper talk. And, yeah. An indifferent silence doesn't transition too well from first-player RPG to crossover fanfiction. Dipper will now have speaking parts.
Also, if you have questions about any of my character choices so far, please leave a review. I probably can't change the character, but we can talk about it, and I can explain my reasoning more in-depth.