Author's note: Are you following along so far? Yes? Good. I present to you the next chapter! Read, enjoy, and tell me what you think! (Reviewers will get a cookie of thier choice!)
Chapter Two
Link opened his eyes, feeling like he had just run a mile with iron boots on. He was in a forest. How did he get here? There weren't any large forests near Castle Town.
"Hey, let me see it!"
The sudden childish voice brought Link to more awareness. The was a short note played on what sounded like an ocarina followed by a childish giggle.
"No, Tael, you'll drop it. You know how clumsy you are."
There was another note on the ocarina, followed by more childish giggling.
"Aw, Tatl! Why can't I play with it, too?"
Link, not wanting to hear any more of this, sat up, shaking his head to get rid of his weariness. He glanced toward the sound the bickering voices and saw two fairies – one yellow, the other black – hovering over a masked skull kid.
And the skull kid had the Ocarina of Time in his hands.
Instantly, Link felt both guilt and anger. He had borrowed the Ocarina from his father, intending to give it back, and now the treasure of the Royal Family was in the hands of some forest creature!
The fairies paused in their bickering long enough to acknowledge that Link was awake. They chimed a warning in unison to their friend, who turned, guiltily hiding the Ocarina behind his back.
Link glared. "That's mine. Can I have it back?"
"What's yours?" Skull Kid asked. "I don't have anything of yours."
"The Ocarina. It's mine. I just saw you hide it behind your back."
"Uh...no I didn't!"
Link jumped at Skull Kid, attempting to tackle him to the ground and get the Ocarina back. Skull Kid jumped out of the way, and took off running through the forest, his fairy companions following. Link chased after him, wondering why this skull kid was faster than himself even with those stumpy legs.
Suddenly, Skull Kid took a sharp turn into a tunnel in the trees. Link followed, but found himself at the edge of a cliff – or who knew what. Everything was dark. "What the-" Link's momentum carried him over the edge before he could even l
Yet he landed with a surprisingly soft landing. He got slowly once more to his feet.
"YOU!"
Link blinked in the sudden light that shone on his face with the harsh word. There, across a pond, was Skull Kid, floating eerily a foot or so above the ground.
"Give me back my Ocarina!" Link shouted.
"No!" Skull Kid replied harshly. "It's mine now. I got it fair-and-square. And there's no way you'll be able to get it back from me as I am now. Fool!" Skull Kid laughed that strange childish giggle. "I just decided. I don't like your face! So take...this!"
Waves of black magic emanated from the mask Skull Kid wore, hitting Link full blast. Pain filled his body and he felt like something was covering his face, pushing him into a smaller shell. When he looked again at his reflection in the pond, he saw he was no longer a Hylian boy, but a... Deku Scrub?
"Hee hee hee! You look so much better!" Skull Kid laughed. "Do you understand now? I can do anything!" Laughing, Skull Kid floated backwards into another tunnel. Link ran after him, amazingly hopping across the shallow water that separated him with Skull Kid. The purple fairy followed his companion, but the yellow one smacked Link in the face, knocking him off his unsteady feet.
"Ha! You look so stupid!"
Link swatted at the fairy. "Shut up!"
"My, my, little boys – I mean dekus – shouldn't have such bad language!"
She turned to follow Skull Kid and the other fairy but found that the passage was shut. She banged the door a few times, but had no luck in opening, so she flew back at Link, smacking him in the face once more. "You! This is all your fault. Now I'm separated from Skull Kid and Tael!" She gave a mournful groan. "Oh, Tael! I hope that child will be all right without me!" She rounded on Link again. "You're going to help me, got it?"
Link glared. He didn't want to help this fairy.
The fairy huffed. "Ugh, fine. Sorry. Now help me."
Link sighed, though it sounded more like a whistle with his strange new form. "A please would be nice. I am the Prince of Hyrule."
"Prince-schmince! I don't care who you are. You're helping me. I have to get back to Tael. I am his only sister, after all."
Link gave another whistling sigh. He figured if he helped this fairy, he would be able to get back the Ocarina. "Fine. Where are they going to be?"
"Clock Town. I'll show you, schmince, where to go."
"My name isn't schmince. My name is Link."
"Link-schmink. Get moving!"
Link glared and stumbled over to the door and opened it. The fairy flew ahead and Link followed, but she quickly turned, flying into his face once more.
"Tatl. That's my name. Don't forget it." She flew off once more down the tunnel with Link bobbling along behind her.
"It looks like its falling over Termina."
"Yeah, but it will still cause devastation."
Rinku turned to Zelda. Her eyes never left the creepy moon hanging over Hyrule. He looked back up at it. Within minutes of it appearing, things had gone terribly wrong. Rinku and Zelda had frantically searched for Link and Zellie, but they soon realized that the two children would have headed back for the castle.
However, when they arrived at the gate, they saw only Zellie, who was sobbing on the ground, Impa standing protectively over her.
"He was right behind me!" Zellie had sobbed when Zelda had asked her where Link was. "One minute, we were heading back here together and the next he was gone!"
Though, truly, this was the worst part of what had happened, Rinku noticed an hour later that the Ocarina of Time was also missing. He had searched all the placed he normally put it, but didn't find it.
But he was heading to Termina anyway. With his second-best ocarina on hand, the Master Sword strapped to his back, he was willing to figure out a way to stop the moon. It wasn't natural. Something had to be causing it to fall. He was going to find out what and stop it before Hyrule was destroyed.
"Explain to me your dream once more?" Rinku asked. He and Zelda were standing by the gate once more, watching the moon inching closer to the earth.
"The moon hung over Hyrule, like it is now," Zelda replied. "Then, on top of a tower, two small people were standing underneath it. I don't know who the first one was, but the second one was a skull kid...wearing a mask."
"A mask?" Rinku looked at his wife, and she met his gaze.
"Yes. You don't think it could have to do with..." She trailed off.
"Majora? Possibly." Rinku sighed. "It is, after all, a legend. No one knows if it is true."
"But what if it is? We're going against a mask."
"It houses incredibly dangerous power. And the legend did say that the end of the world would come about next time it was worn."
Zelda sighed as Rinku pulled out his second-best ocarina and placed it to his lips, playing a quick, happy tune.
"Promise me you'll be careful."
Rinku sighed, tucking the ocarina back into its place. "I can't promise anything, but I will try." He and Zelda turned at the sound of hoof beats. A young black horse with a white mane and tail trotted up to the pair, saddled and ready for an adventure. The horse's name was Caden, and he was the son of Rinku's previous horse. Rinku's old mare, Epona, was now enjoying retirement at Lon Lon Ranch, and Caden was happily taking on the role his mother had played. The young horse trotted in place, oblivious to his master's mood and eager to get moving.
Rinku turned to Zelda and hugged her.
"I love you," Zelda whispered as they kissed.
"I love you, too," Rinku replied. He let her go and lightly mounted Caden. With just the lightest touch, the eager horse cantered off down the path away from the castle and toward Termina.
Rinku rode steadily for an entire day, barely giving himself and Caden time to rest. The horse didn't mind. He seemed to have finally gotten the message that Rinku needed to get somewhere fast.
The pair traveled far in one day, despite the steady speed at which they were going. Finally, they neared the border of Termina. Just as they were about to cross into the region, Caden stopped suddenly, tensing up. "What's wrong, Caden?" Rinku asked. The horse merely shook his head, refusing to go forward. Rinku dismounted and waled a few paces forward. He could sense something, now. Putting an arm forward, he took one more step, and felt a barrier. An invisible barrier.
Quickly pulling his ocarina from the pouch that hang from his belt, he played a smooth tune, one that reminded him the most of Zelda, more so than her lullaby. This particular tune was one with which he had tied some magic, allowing him to communicate with his wife. As he finished the tune, he felt the connection form.
Zelda.
Oh, Rinku, Zelda replied over the mental connection. I thought I felt you calling. Her voice became serious. What's wrong?
There's some sort of barrier around Termina. I can't get in.
Could Caden get through?
I don't know. He sensed it before I did and refused to move a step further. He's a smart horse. Rinku sighed and glanced around. He had that odd feeling like he was being watched. Do you think there's away in? he asked Zelda. Caden pranced nervously on the spot next to Rinku.
Perhaps. I'm not sure you'll find one though. If this is of the same power causing the moon to fall, you may not be able to get in. Zelda paused. Rinku waited for her to say more. After a minute or so, Zelda's sweet voice sounded once more over the connection. Rinku?
Yeah?
I have a bad feeling about this. Come back.
But what about stopping the moon?
Someone else already is. I believe. You were not the one I saw in the dream. Please, Rinku, come back home.
Rinku sighed again. I will. I'll head back now.
Thank you.
The connection was severed and Rinku mounted Caden once more. Turning the young black horse, Rinku nudged him into a canter, away from the Termina region and back to Castle Town.
Link sighed, staring up at the creepy moon from where he sat by the Clock Tower of Clock Town. The second day he had been in his Deku form was coming to a close. And he and Tatl had been over the entirety of Clock Town three times with no luck in finding Skull Kid, not to mention the creepy encounter with the Mask Man, who practically forced Link to help him get back his precious mask that Skull Kid was wearing. But there was a positive side to helping the Mask Man. He said he could return Link to normal if the Prince got back the Ocarina of Time.
Link and Tatl couldn't leave Clock Town, either. The guards at each of the gates stopped Link, saying he was too young and too little to be going out of the gates and onto the field. They also told him to go find his parents, which annoyed Link to no end, because he knew his parents were all the way back in the castle, not here.
During the two days, Link had managed to discover a talent he could only do in this form. With his tube-like mouth, he could blow and launch destructive bubbles in an attack called the bubble blast. Tatl found the ability disgusting, but Link thought it useful. It was almost like the bubble blast was the Deku Scrub's form of archery.
Now, Link was just exhausted. He hadn't slept in two days, and it was finally catching up to him. Despite the uncomfortable Deku Scrub form he was trapped in, he felt himself drifting off to sleep. He closed his eyes.
What woke him was not the sound of Tatl's shrill reprimand, nor the sound of the townspeople, but the loud clanging of the bells. He started awake, looking around. "What's happening?" he asked.
"Midnight is happening!" Tatl exploded. "You idiot! You slept for twenty-four hours! The moon is falling!"
Link looked up and noticed that the moon was much closer. He jumped to his feet.
"Oh," Tatl said as an after thought. "And Skull Kid's up there."
Link glared at Tatl. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I couldn't! Believe me I tried." She bopped him on the head. "Come on!" Link followed the glowing fairy to the top of the Clock Tower, where they saw Skull Kid floating eerily high above the ground, his back to Link and Tatl. Then Skull Kid turned, and seemed to smirk at Link. He was tossing the Ocarina of Time up into the air and catching it again. The purple fairy, Tael, flew up beside Skull Kid.
"Sis!" he cried.
"Tael!" Tatl exclaimed. "We've been looking for you two. So, uh, Skull Kid? Do you think you could take that mask off now? It belongs to someone else and they need it."
"Sis!" Tael shouted urgently. "Go the the swamp, the mountain, the ocean, and the canyon and bring back the four people who are there! Bring them here!"
"Stupid fairy!" Skull Kid shouted, swatting Tael out of the way. "Keep your mouth shut!"
"Hey!" Tatl shouted. "Don't you dare treat my brother like that!"
"Whatever." Skull Kid continued to toss the Ocarina of Time up and down. "Doesn't matter. Even if you did bring them here, they wouldn't stop me. And neither can you." With an ear-splitting, freaky cry, Skull Kid spread his arms and legs and called to the moon, which began to fall faster. Five minutes and the whole world would be destroyed.
Link panicked. How am I supposed to stop the moon? We need more time! Then it hit him. The Ocarina of Time. Perhaps there was a song he could play that would allow him to get more time!
Using his bubble blast, he launched a bubble at Skull Kid, who dropped the Ocarina out of surprise as the bubble hit him. Link ran to pick up the sacred instrument. With a flash of light, the Ocarina was no longer a flute, but a...
"It's a Deku Scrub Tuba!" Tatl shouted. "Play something!"
Link nodded, recalling one specific song that he thought might help, the memory rushing to him...
It was a warm summer's eve. Link, his sister, and his parents were in one of the grassy courtyards. Link's father was playing one of his ocarinas. As he finished a tune, Link spoke up.
"What was that song?" he asked.
"The Song of Time. On any normal ocarina, it's just a pretty tune. But on the Ocarina of Time..." Rinku paused to show his son the special blue Ocarina, marked with the symbol of the Triforce. "If played on this Ocarina, it is said that time can be reversed."
"Hey! What are you doing reminiscing?" Tatl shouted, banging Link on the head and shaking him from his thoughts. "We've still got a moon to stop!"
"I'm getting there," Link replied with annoyance. What was with this fairy? Why did she have to be so rude? He pushed his annoyance aside and recalled the tune, playing on the tuba.
And time itself seemed to fly. Not forward. But backward.