Chapter 6: First Foe Revealed

Link couldn't see much. He felt around for the guards. They felt Link touch their shoulders, and turned around in alarm. When Link confirmed it was him, they calmed down. One of the Guards lit a lantern, illuminating the darkness. They were in a small, seemingly naturally formed room. There were odd, faint moaning noises coming from the walls itself, it seemed. They took a few steps towards a door that appeared to not have been there before. The guards gathered in front of Link. They raised their spears and large body height shields, and kicked the door in. The door flew inward, coming to a halt at the opposite wall. This dislodged a large amount of dust, which loomed sinisterly in the air.

The lead guard shined the lantern in every direction. They were in another room, but this one had a fathomless pit. It was incredibly deep. One of the guards kicked a large rock into the pit. The rock bounced down, and for what seemed like ten minutes, they heard the rock's journey down the hole until it landed on something that made a sickening plop. Link had seen rooms with deep pits like these before, but nothing of this unimaginable depth. They looked around with the lantern. There were no visible platforms within reach. Link saw something in the distance that was vaguely circular. Link pondered on the thought.

He took out his Hookshot from Termina, glinting gold in the light. He aimed it at the circle, and pulled the trigger mechanism. The Hookshot propelled itself forward, and almost made it, but it fell short, and Link pulled the retract switch on the device. It pulled itself in. Judging by what little Link could see, he wasn't far off. He thought for a moment. He wasn't even that far from finding a possible way further in. Summoning an idea, Link instructed the guards of his plan, and they nodded. Link grabbed hold of the lead guard's wrist, and the other guards grabbed onto each other's wrists, and the lead guard's wrist, anchoring them all. Link was supported fairly well, but the fact he was basically vertical on a wall made him want to look down. Link focused on the task, though, and started to aim. He centered where he thought it would be, and pulled the trigger.

The Hookshot once again launched itself, and embedded itself in the wooden circle with a satisfying thud. Link laughed in excitement. He knew what was coming next. He told the guards to let go. They protested, but Link insisted. With much hesitation, they agreed to let go at a countdown. The lead Guard lead the countdown. "1...", the Guard started. The other guards seemed to brace themselves, "2...", They all tensed in anticipation, "3!" The guards let go, and Link pulled the retract switch, grabbing onto the Hookshot with both hands as he began his descent. His descent was short-lived, though, as the power of the Hookshot was enough to pull an Iron Knuckle at the same speed. Link shot through the air, and came to a halt at the wall. He regained his balance by keeping his feet against the stone. He held the release trigger softly, allowing him to slowly lower himself. He was at the end of the chain when he realized there was nothing under him. Link started to panic a bit, and he retracted himself up to the wooden panel again.

He shouted to the guards, and told them there was nothing under him, and he would likely not be able to get back through regular means. The guards gasped, and started murmuring to each other. Link started looking around. He didn't find any way possible to get to a safe place to land. He directed the guard to toss him the lantern. Though Link had one free hand, it'd be a risk he'd have to take. The lead guard spoke, "Link, once you get the lantern... What are we going to do? We cannot see without it." Link told them to wait. If he wasn't back by nightfall, they'd have to leave and get more supplies and men to find him.

Link motioned for the guard to throw it, and he obliged. The lantern flew through the air, and Link caught it with the tips of his fingers. He almost dropped it, but managed to grasp onto it. Link moved the lantern around. Nope. Their previous inspection was as correct as this one; there were no platforms. Link looked down. Would he eventually have to? He would have his answer soon. Link started as he felt the Hookshot slipping out of where it had been embedded. The Guards gasped again, but they could do nothing but watch. Link braced himself, and jumped, ripping the rest of the Hookshot out. In the middle of the fall, Link thought of a possible solution. He felt the wind rush past him, and smacked his forehead. He knew what to do. He fumbled around in his tunic, still enjoying free fall through the dungeon, and finally got what he was looking for. He placed the Deku Mask firmly on his face.

Time seems to not elapse in these moments; Link feels the pain of the soul who inhabited the being in the mask, allowing Link to see what it's like to become them on a whole different level. This was another reason he was not fond of the masks, but kept them to honor the souls that sacrificed themselves for them. He felt the unbearable pain.

He wandered through the forest. He greeted a Skull Kid wearing an odd mask. The Skull Kid laughed to itself and he ripped the essence from his body, painfully contorting his body into a small tree.

He saw vague images he couldn't piece together.

He was in a dark corridor, racing playfully with his father, who sailed on the breeze using nothing but an umbrella. "I'll beat you!"

His eyes were bloodshot, he grasped his face, half wanting to rip the mask off, half wanting to keep it on. His skin became like wood, and his limbs became shorter. When he was done, he was a Deku; straw-like hair, and a wood-like body, with his red, sad eyes. Link struggled in the body, and started to twist and turn, trying to get a good rotation. When he finally had his hat-- now somewhat attached to his body as a giant leaf-- at a good angle, he started to spin. Using it like some kind of rudder, he got a good rotation going, and started to slow down in midair, though feeling very dizzy.

The long flight had made him spin faster, and faster. When he was afraid he'd lose consciousness from the pure dizziness, he landed, and fell over. He was greatly disoriented, but the room stopped spinning long enough to let him get on his feet. He felt around. The ground was soft... And moist... And... Moving? Link was confused, but he didn't have time to think before he felt tremendous pain in his head. The lantern had returned, and reminded Link of the power of gravity. Link, still a Deku, rolled around on the ground, holding his head in pain. After the blinding hurting in his head had stopped, he got up, and took off the mask.

Taking off the mask was a much more enjoyable experience than putting it on. The mask seemed to just let go of his face. Link got up, and picked up the lantern, now almost extinguished. He sat down, and took out a bomb. He's not going to see any clearer... He set down the bomb, and broke it open, revealing all the gunpowder in it. He did the same with some other bombs, and piled up the gunpowder in a pile similar to a snow fort he and the Kokiri made when he was a child. He had emptied a lot of bombs. It was OK, though. He had a lot more. The lantern was almost extinguished, but he had enough time. Link opened the latch of the lantern, and lit the gunpowder. It burst into flame, illuminating the surrounding area very clearly. He saw the walls, which were gray stone. There were no doors. He saw the mark just under the entrance platform. Link tensed immensely. Another Majora Mark, and even more oddly... A Triforce. The spikes of Majora's face mark were eight Triforces, stretched, but clearly the sacred crest. Link drew his sword; he didn't know what to think of it, and finally looked at the floor. The floor was moist and soft when he first entered it, and now he was looking at it in the fading light of the burning gunpowder. The floor. It was covered in a blue film, and it was reverberating. The ripples in the small puddle on the ground were calm around Link's feet, but Link looked a little closer.

The gunpowder had reached the floor, and the it gave a mighty heave, as if in pain. Link fell over, dropping his sword, and was knocked against the wall. He had put his shield up at the last second, and bounced off the impending impact. Link got up quickly, and looked at the center of the room. Nothing was happening. The light was extinguished, and he couldn't see. The blue film wasn't moving, though, but he was extremely cautious. Before he could loosen up, there was a great light at the very ceiling of the dungeon, which was possibly a more than a thousand feet up. He heard the guards scream, and dive for cover. The blue light opened up into a perfect sphere, pulsing lightly. Link was awed at the sight, and was lost in its mystical presence. He didn't even notice he was swordless in possible danger.

The Great fairy's Sword was laying on the ground where he had been knocked over. The blue light pulsed a bit more powerfully, and Link was still staring, wide-eyed, and open-jawed. The light pulsed a final time, and seemed to knock Link back slightly, as the power of it blew the ceiling of the dungeon off. The rocks mostly sped outwards, but some of the larger ones fell into the pit. They hit the ground, shattered, and Link had to dodge many of them, almost getting scraped by a few. When the final tremor's debris was done falling, a red object appeared in the middle of the blue sphere. It looked circular as well. It dropped from the great height; the blue light obviously did not care whether it was a living being or not. It landed in the blue film, and Link gasped. Forming gently, gathering the blue liquid into a physical body around him, was Morpha.

-Chapter End-