Shadow: Just a warning, we got accents.

Time Stop: Well, Termina has accents. We gotta make it different from Hyrule somehow.

Wang: We do?

Static: Yes Wang, we do.

Time Stop: As always, we don't own a thing.

Chapter 4: Welcome to Clocktown

The light blinded them for a moment. As their eyes cleared they found themselves in the center of town. Men were busy building large structure directly opposite from them. But not many other people were about. Nadai glanced at the sky.

"It's early morning." She whispered. It carried across the square.

Link nodded. "Well, we got a week. Let's see where we are."

Tatl flitted down to land on Link's shoulder. "This is the center of Clocktown. It's centrally located in Termina."

"Clocktown? Good to know." Nadai glanced about. "Where do we head first?"

"We could go out to the swamp." Tatl suggested. "That'll be the southern exit."

"Southern Exit?"

"There are four exits to Clocktown." Tatl answered her question. "To the north are the mountains, to the west is the sea. To the east is the canyon, and to the south is the swamp."

"If that Skull Kid is anywhere he'll be by the swamp." Link muttered. "We need to go south."

"Then let's find the southern exit." Nadai walked forward.

Link followed her. A growl caught his attention and he turned to see a dog about his height crouched low. He pounced, and Link had to spin out of the way.

"What the hell?" Link shouted.

The dog landed and spun about, keen on attacking further. Nadai got in its way, blocking its view of Link. Immediately, the dog sat on its hind legs and stuck out its tongue. She reached out carefully, but the dog didn't move to bite. She started petting the dog, letting it lick her hand.

"Ye're quite lucky that ye have that girl with ye."

Link turned about and found the speaker. An older Deku Scrub, it stood taller than Link by a good foot. Its body was half in and half out of a flower.

"What?"

"Gosh, boy, don't ye know a thing?" The Deku Scrub shook his head. "Canines are terrible enemies of the Deku Scrubs. Whether that be from a long forgotten feud or their love of sticks, we don't know. But what we do know is that they will attack us on sight."

"On sight, not on smell or on hearing?"

"They can't smell or hear us." The Deku Scrub smiled. "If we are real good at it, we can sneak right on by them when it comes to it."

"Good to know, thanks."

"Don't worry about it." The Deku Scrub smiled again. "We have to take care of our own."

"Yeah, thanks."

Link carefully made his way across the square. Nadai must have heard, following Link's passage and kept the dog pre occupied. Once Link got around the giant structure being built on the opposite end of the square, Nadai ran from the dog. It sat there, before resuming its search for the Deku Scrub that had escaped. Luckily, it didn't pursue Nadai as she found Link.

"That was eventful." She commented.

"I could do with a little less eventful." Link commented. He pointed ahead of him. "But good news is that we found the southern exit."

An immense gate stood ahead of them, with a singular guard looking their way.

"Simple enough, right?" Nadai said. She took a step forward.

"Halt!" The guard was in their way in a second, his hand outstretched.

"Halt?" She asked. "We can't leave?"

"Correct." The man stood up straight and puffed out his chest. "Children cannot leave the city unaccompanied without an adult."

"Seriously?" Link walked up to stand next to Nadai. "But we're adults!"

The man tsked. "Doesn't look like it to me." He shook his head.

"But we have weapons!" He yelled.

"The young woman has a weapon, scrub. Ye do not." The man drew himself up straighter. "And even if ye had a weapon, it would be confiscated."

"Confiscated?"

"Scrubs are not allowed weapons." The man said matter of factly. He leaned a bit to Nadai. "Is this scrub bothering ye little lady?"

Nadai clenched her fists. "He happens to be my friend."

"Friends? A scrub and a human? Impossible." The man reconsidered. "Well, improbable. At the very least."

Nadai reached low to her daggers. "We have to pass."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Ye really do wish to fight?"

"You kind of leave us with no choice."

The man gripped his spear easily. "Let me tell ye something, little lady. See those men behind ye working construction? They too are soldiers. One word from me and they will come. I don't care how strong ye think ye are, we are professionals. We will make short work out of yer little friend and yerself." He leaned down to her level. "I would reconsider yer actions before ye do something foolish."

Link glanced at the men behind them. Already a few of them were eyeing the situation. A few of them gripped their construction tools with tightened fists. He glanced back at Nadai. She was about to fight to the fullest.

"We understand." Link took a step back. "No leaving for us."

He put a wooden hand on Nadai's shoulder, and she slowly turned from the solider. They took a few steps away, sticking close to the wall.

"We could've taken them easily." She complained.

"I'm not back to my normal form." Link pointed out. "Secondly, we are still technically children."

She pouted. "So what, we try another exit?"

Tatl flitted about. "There are three other exits to try." She answered. "But they have construction at each entrance."

Nadai shook her head. "It's worth a shot." She went off.

Link sighed. "At least we'll see more of Clocktown."

What Tatl said was true. The soldiers who worked construction were completing preparations for a festival held in three days' time. The four biggest construction sites were in front of each of the entrances. Each entrance was guarded then by not one man but by twenty. And even in their prime, twenty men would have taken them enough that by the time they had finished others would have arrived.

Fighting their way out of the city was bordering suicidal.

But they managed to see the city in its fullest. Each exit to the city was in the four cardinal directions. The south was held in the giant main plaza. The west was in more of a residential region of the city, with a milk bar of all places. The east held a long winding street of shops that ended in the exit. The north was dressed like a park.

But the city was still massive outside of those four main areas. There were no real markers between them. Houses like soldiers stood to attention on either side of the road. Similar shops and citizens dotted the way in predictable places. In much, outside of those four exits, there were no interest in them.

The other thing that they had noticed was the attitude of the Terminians to Link. Or more specifically the attitude of the Terminians to Deku kind. There was a hostility about them, a hatred more poignant than any of the worse smells. This hostility must have ended only a little while ago, as children and adults all avoided Link as much as possible. At the other end of the spectrum, the Deku scrubs were almost afraid of the Terminians. They went out of their way to please them, doing things that both Link and Nadai were noticeably disturbed by. Unlike here, in Hyrule Deku scrubs were monsters twisted by evil. They had been enemies for Link and Nadai since they were born. Even in a new land, old habits die hard. Sympathy was something they couldn't find easily.

The end of their search found themselves by the northern exit, in the park-esque land. A large tree and a playground dominated one corner, while a boy tried shooting a balloon down with his pea gun. A man was flying in the middle of the air via a red balloon, dressed in bright green clothes. The other end of the park was walled off by a large wooden fence. Construction workers worked near by the exit.

"Again!" Link leaned against a slide. "We can't leave this place at all!"

Nadai eyed the exit. "We could try climbing out?" She suggested. "The wall has to be only about thirty or forty feet up. We could climb it."

"Not in my body." Link shook his head. "I'm too weak in the arms."

"I could carry you?"

"Possibly? I doubt that you could carry me up there. Nothing against your strength, but the possibility of being spotted and stopped is pretty high."

"I won't be as agile…" Nadai looked about. "There's a flower over there by the wall. Could we use that?"

"We don't know if we don't try." Link got up from the slide. "It's a start at least. Let's try there."

In their way stood the boy with his pea gun. He kept on taking shots at the giant balloon in the air. As they came closer they found that instead of peas he was lighting firecrackers and shooting those instead. The steady popping sound that had been in the far off distance had gotten louder as they saw the little flashes of light from the firecracker's explosions.

Passing him and the mysterious flying man and the guards, they went to the far side of the park. The fence had to be twenty feet high at least, with small holes here and there from the weather. Through the gaps in the fence they could spot a dark cave.

"Alright, let's try the flower." Link got his legs inside and was sucked inside.

Nadai's surprise was evident. This was the first time she had seen Link go into one of those springy flowers. He was shot up into the air a second later. He went just higher than the fence

"No good!" He shouted down.

The wind picked up, pushing him away. Nadai watched as he slowly drifted over the fence wall and subsequently away from her.

"Hold on!"

Nadai ran to the wall and jumped up. She clung to two small holes just large enough for a child's hands. She climbed furiously, Tatl right behind her. As Link dropped she rounded the top of the fence and fell down with him.

They landed, Link easily and Nadai in a roll. Tatl was a tad behind, silent. Both of them looked at the cave, uncertain.

"That was no natural wind." Link said. "There wasn't anything for the balloon or for that man. Only I was pushed."

"Magic?"

"Most definitely." Link squared his shoulders. "Maybe she's in there?"

"Maybe. Could be someone after us."

"We need to know."

Link took the first steps into the cave, his little wooden body creaking slightly. Nadai slipped behind him, her hands resting uneasily on her daggers. Tatl followed behind, her body flitting back and forth nervously.

"Guys, I shouldn't be here."

"Why not?" Whispered Link. "Danger?"

"Maybe—."

Lights came up suddenly, causing both Link and Nadai to crouch low defensively. Tatl hid behind them. When the lights dimmed, they found themselves in front of a beautiful woman. Dressed in bright robes, fairies circled her and framed her.

"A Great Fairy?" Link asked, rising.

"Travelers from Hyrule. You have certainly met with a horrible fate."

"You can tell I'm cursed?"

"I'm a Great Fairy," the woman laughed a little. "There is little that goes throughout my land without my knowledge."

"So you know about Skull Kid?"

"Yes." She let out a sad smile. "His magic is greater than even mine at the moment. There is little I can do to aid you in your endeavors."

"His magic is greater? It's just a mask."

"Much more than a mask, young Link." The Great Fairy answered. "What lies within the mask is dangerous. It corrupts. It's a burden no one in time should bear."

"So what? We have to fight?"

"Most definitely. You have three days to meet him. His plan enacts at the eve of the third day."

"It'll be a lot easier if we knew where he was."

"And that I can help you with." The woman raised her hands. "No doubt you have noticed your own magic has been nullified since you entered Termina. Let me aid you. Let me bless you with magic that transcends mortal coils and time."

Warm light bathed both of them. They could feel magic coursing through their veins much like it had months and months ago.

"And also with advice."

"Advice?" Nadai asked. "Like where he is?"

"Where you could find them." She smiled. "The Bombers are a good group of boys. They are led by the young boy out there in the park. Convince him that you are worthy of joining the bombers, and they can help you in any way they can."

"The Bombers?" She asked.

"Their use of firecrackers have given them that nickname. They used to be very mischievous. They changed their ways in the past year or so. They are good kids."

"If you say." Nadai shrugged. Link stared at the Great Fairy.

"What is it, young hero?" She turned to him again.

"My friend. Has she come here?"

The Great Fairy sighed. "I know of who you speak. A long time ago, before you were born, they had accidentally found their way into Termina through the Lost Woods. We guided them back to Hyrule once we found that they had come here. I have not seen her since."

Link's visage dropped.

"Though it is possible that she is here in Termina somewhere." The Great Fairy amended. "Until my power is no longer constricted by that mask, I won't know for sure."

Link bowed. "Thank you."

"We should go."

"Wait." The Great Fairy stopped them from leaving. "Before you go, I would like to talk to Tatl."

Tatl came out slowly from behind Link. "Hi Great Fairy."

"Tatl, we want to let you know that we do understand. You will always have a home with us here."

Tatl stared at the fairy in silence. After a long pause, she opened her mouth. Then she closed it again and left.

Link and Nadai followed her out of the cave. "What was that about?"

"Doesn't matter." Tatl flew up high. "All that matters is getting back to Skull Kid."

"If you say." Link dropped the matter. He spied another flower and went in. A moment later he was in the air again. Nadai was already climbing the fence as he floated over the wall and fell back over.

"That kid's the leader, huh?" Nadai landed on the ground easily.

The boy in question wore a bright red baseball cap. He still shot at the balloon in the sky, unable to do much to it. He aimed again and again, but his little firecrackers kept on missing.

"Yeah. Let's do this."

Link and Nadai walked up to the boy.

"Hey!" Link waved his hands, getting the boy's attention.

The Bomber put down his pea shooter. "What d'ye want?"

"We want to talk."

The boy shook his head. "I'm not supposed to talk to scrubs."

Link hung his head. "What is with these people and scrubs?" He said to himself.

Nadai took a step forward. "Will you talk to me?"

He took a long look at her. "Nah. I don't talk to ugly girls."

"Who're you calling ugly?" Nadai reached to her daggers, but Link stopped her.

"Listen, I was told that could that you help us."

"I don't know who told ye that." The bomber returned to shooting his firecrackers. "We don't talk to outsiders."

"Said who?"

"Said me!" The boy stopped shooting again and stared pointedly at them, waving his finger at them. "Ever since the Hylians came to Clocktown, we've been overcrowded and making the adults mad."

"And what's that to do with us?"

"Well it's clear that she's an outsider. She doesn't talk like us at all. And ye, ye're a scrub so no one would want to talk to ye 'cept other scrubs and outsiders."

"So how can we become one of you then?" Nadai asked.

"What?"

"Well, if we become bombers, then we would be part of Clocktown, right?" Nadai reasoned. "We would then no longer be outsiders."

"True…"

"Which means that you could help us out?"

The Bomber shook his head. "Not so fast! I never agreed to let either one of ye join The Bombers."

"Then why don't you test us?" Nadai asked. "If we pass, then we can join you. If we don't, then we'll never bother you again."

The Bomber thought about it for a long time. "If, and only if ye pass, right?"

"That's right."

"Then pop that balloon." The Bomber pointed up to the one he had been trying to hit. "If you manage to pop that I'll consider it. Considering I'm the best aim out of everyone I know, there's no way you could hit that."

Nadai looked up at the sky. She turned back to the boy. "That's it?"

"Why? Can't do it?"

Nadai took out her dagger. "Now I never said that." She whipped the dagger behind her and watched as the boy's mouth drop open. The resounding pop sounded and the later kathunk of the dagger hitting the ground.

The boy's eyes grew wider. "Impossible." He whispered. "That's impossible."

Link glanced at the construction workers. They had taken notice of their interactions, but they hadn't yet moved in on them yet. They were just kids fooling around. An odd assortment of kids fooling around.

"So, do I pass?"

The Bomber shook himself out of shock. "Yes! I mean, no! I mean, not him!" He pointed a finger at Link.

"And why not?" Nadai put her hands on her hips. "I popped it fair and square."

"Ye only popped it. He did nothing." The boy smirked. "If a Deku Scrub really wanted the help of the Bombers, he has to prove himself too."

"How so?"

"By popping that balloon." The boy pointed with his pea shooter, to the giant red balloon the man was riding on.

Link groaned. It was even higher than the other one, and he had no way to get to it. Daggers were out of the question, as his hands couldn't grasp it with their knobby forms. He couldn't jump up there and he couldn't use Din's Fire.

Or could he? The Great Fairy had just given him magic; magic that would transcend time and form. Could he do some sort of Deku magic? He reached inside of himself, looking for that familiar spot where he could feel the burning of magic. It took a little while, but he found what he was looking for. Instead of burning hot, it was freezing cold. Undeterred, he grasped at it in his mind, and brought it to focus.

His concentration was ruined when his mouth had a very strange sensation to it. He spat out, but a long strand of gray green clung to his mouth. He brought it back and in and tried to blow it out. It came out as a bubble, but still clung to him. He shook his head back and forth, bringing in the gummy substance and trying again. The bubble got bigger and bigger as he tried to get rid of it.

By now, Nadai and the Bomber were watching almost horrified. They stepped back in caution as the bubble got to be the size of Link's head. Speechless, all she could do was watch as he tried to expel the bubble.

Link threw his head back in frustration and blew as hard as he could. Suddenly a small pop resounded in his head and he was flung back to the ground. The bubble flew up into the air. It moved faster and faster until it flew right on past the man with the balloon.

"Ha! Ye missed!"

Nadai shook her head. "He didn't." With her keen eyes, she had seen the bubble stick to the balloon.

"Liar!"

Nadai turned to look at the boy. "You calling me a liar?"

"Yeah." The Bomber crossed his arms. "Even if he did hit the balloon, I said to pop it."

With a resounding bang, the bubble Link had fired went off in a small explosion, popping the red balloon with it. The man yelled in surprise as he plummeted down to the ground. He landed heavily.

With that the construction workers were on their way, makeshift weapons in hand. The boy was appalled, and ran off towards the playground. Nadai reached out and helped Link up to his feet. He went straight to the man who had fallen, while Nadai gripped her lone dagger anxiously.

"Are you alright?" Link asked.

"Why did ye do that to Tingle?" The man turned to Link.

"Sir? Are you alright?" One of the guards shouted.

"Tingle is alright." The man who had fallen stood up. He smiled. "Tingle has never been better."

The guards slowed down. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Tingle is sure!" The man spun about and pointed his finger at them. "Now leave Tingle alone or face Tingle's magic!" He waited a moment for the words to sink in. "Tingle Tingle Kooloo-Limpah!"

The guards immediately retreated. Nothing happened and the man turned right back around with a big grin on his face.

"Thank ye so much!" The man laughed. "Tingle has been waiting to hear from his kin for a long time!"

"Kin?" Link asked.

"Why, from ye!" The man jumped from one foot to another. "Tingle has been waiting for the day that a fairy boy came to see him!"

If Link could blanch, he would. "Fairy boy?" He repeated.

"Yes, yes! Has ye brought a fairy for Tingle? He's been waiting for a very long time for it! Almost thirty years to be exact!"

Nadai held her hand up. "Hold up. You're telling us that you are a Kokiri?"

"What?" The man turned to her. "Tingle doesn't know what those are. But he does know that fairy boys like Tingle wear green. And have a fairy! Tingle is just waiting for a fairy!"

"Uh, no." Link shook his head. A very unflattering feeling came to his heart, gripping it tightly. "No. We didn't."

"But fairy boy! Tingle has been waiting for years! You must help poor old Mr. Tingle!"

Link began to back off. "Maybe another time."

"Please!" The man reached out and grabbed his arm. "Tingle is desperate!"

Link swung his arm back. "Back off!" He growled.

While his voice was higher pitched as a Deku Scrub, he couldn't exactly be called menacing. But it worked, the man backed off as if stabbed. Link ran off to the playground equipment, Nadai hot on his heels.

"What was that about?"

Link shook his head. "Don't wanna talk about it."

They stopped in front of the slide. "Woah."

They both turned to the Bomber who peeked his head out from around the slide.

"What?" Nadai asked.

"Ye actually did it." The Bomber came out from hiding. "Ye actually popped the balloon. And talked to crazy ol' Tingle."

"That's his name?" Link asked.

"Yeah. He's a nutter, at least, that's what the parents all say. Said that he was hit on the head as a child or something."

Link shivered. "A-Anywho," he said. "Am I in?"

"Uh, yes!" The Bomber stopped, then shook his head vigorously. "I mean, no. No!"

"What? We did what you asked!" Nadai protested.

"There's still one more task!" The Bomber held up a finger. "Uh, wait here."

Nadai's hand shot out and gripped his collar before he could go far. "For you to sneak off? I don't think so."

"Nothing like that!" The boy wriggled. "There's just one more task, and I gotta get them!"

"What?" Link leaned back against the slide.

"There's ten others, ten officers of the Bombers!" The leader said frantically. "They're the last part of the initiation!"

"Which entails?"

"Ye gotta find all of them." The boy said. He finally shook himself free from Nadai's grip. "After supper is had, I'll have the guys sneak out to hide among town. You have to find all ten of them before the time runs out. When you find them, make sure to grab their bandanna on their wrist, otherwise it won't count."

"And when does time run out?"

The boy pointed up at the sky. "It's mid afternoon now. Ye have from when it starts, till noon tomorrow."

"And it starts after supper?"

"I'll tell ye when it starts, okay?" The boy pointed to the slide. "Wait here, and I'll let ye know when ye can look for them."

Nadai narrowed her eyes. "No houses?"

"No houses."

"No shops?"

"No buildings."

"Just outside?"

"They might be hiding under or in something." The boy shrugged. "But I'll make sure to tell the guys to hide at least outside."

Nadai groaned.

"They'll listen to me!" The Bomber insisted. "Now I better go tell the fellas before supper starts!"

He ran off, this time Nadai didn't give chase.

"I guess we wait?"

Link nodded. "We wait."

Time Stop: So there it is.

Static: Just to further clarify things, super powerful magical beings do not count for the accents.

Wang: What about fairies?

Static: Don't count.

Shadow: Please Review!

Wang: What about animals?

Static: Don't count.

Wang: What about Skull Kid?

Static: Uh, for the purposes of the story, he isn't really from Termina. More along the like on the borders of it.

Wang: ...you just made that up.

Static: No I didn't!

Wang: Yes you did!