Timmy fingered the shining green stone that the Great Deku Tree had given him. It was very radiant, caused by total internal reflection of the light inside the emerald. He carefully put it into his pouch, silently promising to keep it safe until he could give it to the princess in Hyrule Castle. Stella had landed on his shoulder, mourning the loss of the Great Deku Tree. He couldn't blame her, that tree was the closest thing he had to a father, too. He slowly walked back down the path to the forest, ready to begin his adventure. Unfortunately, a familiar face was waiting for him when he returned.
"What did you do?" Riven inquired of Timmy. "The Great Deku Tree...did he die?" Timmy stared blankly at Riven from behind his glasses. "He did, didn't he? You really did it this time, Mainframe! The Great Deku Tree died, and it's all your fault! None of this would have happened if you hadn't gone to see him! I should have been the one! I could have saved him! You loser! What are we going to do now?" Timmy didn't know how to answer. He knew it wasn't his fault the Great Deku Tree had died; it was Queen Goma's presence and the curse. Not answering, he walked past Riven toward the exit from the forest. "Hey! I wasn't finished chewing you out!" Riven yelled to Timmy, but Timmy continued walking right out of the forest.
He came to the bridge connecting the Kokiri Forest to the outside world. The Kokiri had always been told that they could not leave the forest, so the bridge is as far as any of them had ever gone. Admittedly, Timmy was frightened. He didn't want to die if he left the forest, but he had to deliver the stone, for the Great Deku Tree. He took a deep breath and crossed the bridge. He had almost made it out, when he heard a voice behind him.
"So, you are leaving..." It was Flora. She was waiting to see him off. "I always knew you were different from us, Timmy. You were special and were always destined to leave the forest. I made this for you," she said as she handed him a harp she had made. It was fashioned from a fine Deku Stick, and the strings were coiled grasses pulled tightly. She strummed a few chords on it before handing it to Timmy. "Whenever you play this harp, please think of me." Timmy nodded and looked at the harp. She had cut the grasses to the perfect length, creating the most harmonious standing waves when he strummed the strings. She pulled out her own harp and began plucking out a song. Timmy tried his best to replicate it on his own harp. "This is my special song," Flora began. "I only teach it to my closest friends. Whenever you want to talk to me, you can play this song." Smiling after mastering his new song, one he would come to call "Flora's Song," Timmy looked up at Flora, but her expression was one of sadness. Quietly, she spoke one last time, "Remember, we will be friends forever." Timmy looked up at her. She was the only Kokiri to ever understand him, the only one to spend time with him, and his only best friend. He didn't want to leave, but he knew that he had to. It was the only way he could protect her and the rest of the Kokiri. He quickly turned and ran out of the forest. Flora gazed on for a bit, then turned to head back to the forest herself. Passing by a few confused Kokiri children asking about Timmy and the Great Deku Tree, she made her way to the entrance to the Lost Woods. She turned back to see Riven talking to the other Kokiri, no doubt spreading more rumors about Timmy. She sighed and entered the Lost Woods, making her way to her secret hideout—the Sacred Forest Meadow. She would play her song there and wait for Timmy to return.
Timmy gasped as he looked at the landscape surrounding him. Never had he seen this much open space. He stood on the edge of a massive field, one he called Hyrule Field. Stella started talking for the first time since the two of them had left the Great Deku Tree, "All right! We made it out of the forest. Now all we have to do is find the castle! Maybe we should follow the path." Timmy did as Stella told him and walked along the path. It was getting late, but he could see the drawbridge in front of the castle from a distance. He stopped. That drawbridge was familiar. It was in his dream—the one about the frightening man and the little girl. He knew he had come to the right place. Shakily stepping across the drawbridge, he made it into the town just before it was closed. There was a guard on duty, and Timmy walked over, hoping he could overhear something about the castle he was supposed to visit.
The guard looked down at the little boy and greeted him, "Hello, son! I don't think I've seen you around here before. Welcome to Hyrule Market! There are tons of things for you to do inside. You can try out the Bombchu Bowling Alley or look at the new Happy Mask Shop! Enjoy your stay!" Timmy smiled and left. He hadn't learned anything pertaining to the whereabouts of the castle, but at least he knew that the market would be an interesting place. He walked in and was almost hit by a man running around in circles. There were crowds of people fighting over who knows what, a beggar asking for the contents of a bottle, and a little pink-haired girl humming to herself in the center of the plaza. Stella zoomed out and spoke in Timmy's ear, "You should ask around to see if anyone knows where the castle is." That girl would do, she seemed like she could use someone to talk to anyway. The problem was that Timmy didn't usually talk to people, especially girls. He took a deep breath and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and greeted him with bright purple eyes and a huge smile.
"Hey, I've never seen you before! My name's Roxy! My dad owns Lon Lon ranch! What's your name?" Timmy hesitated to answer, and Stella flew around his head, trying to get him to say something. "Hey, you have a fairy! I was wondering why you were wearing those weird clothes. You must be from the forest! Well, Fairy Boy, if you ever want to come visit, I'll be at the ranch!" Timmy stared blankly back at her. Seeing that he wasn't going to ask her about anything, Stella grabbed his hand and pulled it toward the castle. "Oh, you want to know about the castle?" Roxy realized. "There's tons of guards on duty there. They protect Princess Tecna! She lives inside. I even heard that she installed a high-tech security system herself to ward off intruders! The only way you'd be able to pass it is if you had something to see where all the booby traps are, but I don't even know if such a thing exists." Timmy furrowed his brow in thought. There must be something here that he could use to see hidden things, but he didn't know what it would be or where he could find one. "I have to go find my dad! Bye, Fairy Boy!" Roxy yelled as she bounded off towards the castle grounds.
Stella began talking to Timmy again. "Something you can use to see the booby traps, I wonder what we could use. I guess the only way to find out is to ask people!" Timmy proceeded to ask all the people in the town about it, but none of them had ever heard of such a thing. He tried buying one in the different stores, but they didn't carry anything helpful either. Timmy dejectedly meandered into the Happy Mask Shop, although he didn't see what a mask would be able to do to help him. Poking his head over the counter, he saw the shop owner smiling at him.
"Welcome to the Happy Mask shop! Here, I will lend you a mask that you can sell to others! You bring the mask to someone who needs it, and you bring the payment back to me! No rupees required on your end!" Timmy peered into his own wallet. Good thing he didn't need to pay right away. He only had five rupees in his wallet. He looked around at some of the different masks. There was a cute Keaton Mask, a spooky Skull Mask, among many others that he didn't recognize. The one that caught his attention the most, though, was a strange silver mask with an eye on the front. He decided to ask the shop owner about it. "Ah," the salesman responded, "you're wondering about the Mask of Truth. It's a very special mask that is said to give the wearer the power to know the truth. Would you like to borrow it?" Timmy took the mask off of its stand and held it to his head. It was strange, alright. He took it off and put it in his pouch. That was the last store he had to check, so he had to risk going into the castle not knowing where the traps would be laid. He only hoped that his intuition would be enough.
A/N: So I'm changing a bit up about the Mask of Truth and the Lens of Truth, if you couldn't already tell. Don't worry, it all works out in the end! I'm also shoving some physics terminology here and there, because Timmy is a bit of a nerd, after all! School starts back up tomorrow, and I've got over a month with only one break, so this story probably won't be updated for a little while, but who knows? Don't forget to leave a review, and follow/favorite if you so desire! Daisy out!