Ocarina
Part 1
by
North Castle, Hyrule (Early Morning)-
Link and Doof had their backs pressed against a door, which leaned inward with each thump from the other side. They were still engaged so when Princess Lana and Princess Zelda walked up. Both men looked up with sheepish grins.
"Having a little trouble?" Lana asked.
"Nope," Doof said.
"Everything's under control," Link assured them. It was at that moment that Link and Doof suddenly found themselves horizontal, with the door on top of them. A man with a barrel for a body and a bucket for a head... and assorted other parts for limbs... bounded out on a broom onto the door and down the hall. "I take that back," Link said from under the door, sounding very (and looking very) squished.
Zelda leaned down. "Before I leave you two 'interior destroyers' the run of the castle," she couldn't keep a giggle out of her voice, "you wouldn't happen to remember anything about the Gerudo, would you?"
Link finally mannaged to drag himself out from under the door. "The who?"
"Apparently not," Lana quirked.
"Sorry," Zelda said. "Lana and I have some things to do in the Gerudo Valley, and I remembered you once mentioned that Gerudo Serum was nasty stuff. I was just wondering how much you remembered." She paused momentarily. "Well... We'll see you later." Lana and Zelda walked away, hand in hand.
"He's coming back!" Doof exclaimed.
That was all the warning Link had before getting crushed under the bouncing broom of Doof's chore helper. Even from the crumpled heep he now occupied, Link grabbed one of the bouncing legs... It fell appart, showering him with buckets, bolts, and assorted junk.
Doof wandered up, "Sorry, Link. Thanks for helping me to stop him again."
"No, problem," Link's voice sounded muffled from under the junk.
N Team's House, Megaland-
"They do not."
"Do too!"
"What are you two arguing about?" Kevin asked. Mike and Rick looked at him.
Rick answered first. "Hylians have autographic memory."
"Do not," Mike protested. "If they did, Zelda wouldn't have been tricked that one time in that one episode that guy... Moore? Mark Moore? ...showed us."
"Why don't you call Hyrule and find out?" Kevin suggested.
Mike and Rick looked at each other, as if neither had concidered it. Mike waltzed over to the next room, then walked back in. "I've given them the beep on their machine. Didn't even know they had an answering machine."
Kevin glanced at Rick. "Why do you think they have autographic memory?"
"Autographic memory's gotta go with superior hearing," Rick said. "I'm sure Ferengis have it, too!"
"You've been watching too much Deep Space Nine," Mike said. "Time to stick you on the Barney Juice."
"I hate Barney," Kevin and Rick said together.
North Castle, Hyrule-
A page ran up to where Link was just now recovering his legs, with help from Doof. "Sir?"
Link looked at the young boy. "Yes, Cliffton?"
"There's a message for you and the Princess from the N Team. They want someone to go over there to answer a question."
"Did it say which one of us they wanted?" Link asked.
"No, Sir."
Link looked at the pile of junk on the floor, then to the page, then to Doof. "Sorry, Doof," he said. "Looks like I can't stay and help pick up. Thank you, Cliffton." Link excused himself and headed for the nearest warp.
N Team's House, Megaland-
Kevin glanced up when a warp opened. "Morning, Link... It is morning in Hyrule, isn't it?"
The warp closed behind Link. "Yep, morning. Now what was this about needing me for a question?"
Rick stuck headphones on Link's head. "Tell me if you've heard this song before."
The three waited patiently for Link to answer. Finally, Link shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"Good," Rick took the headphones away and shoved a guitar into Link's hands. "We want to know if Hylians have autographic memory. Play the background music, I'm sure Kevin and Mike'll sing if they recognize it from what you play."
"That's my guitar!" Kevin exclaimed.
"And I'm sure he's grateful to you for letting him play it," Rick said. He turned his attention back to Link.
Link began plucking at the guitar, not the song he listened too... more of a warm up to get use to the guitar. Noticing the three staring at him, he stopped the warm up and strum the first chord of the song. By the time he got to the second measure, Kevin and Mike had already recognized it.
"Too slow," Mike commented.
"No it's not," Kevin rebuked him. "He's playing the begining."
"Are you two going to sing or what?" Rick asked. By this time, Link had sped up to the speed the rest of the song was at, and was just going into where the voices came in.
"Oh, fine," Mike grumbled. He and Kevin sang.
Sometimes
in our lives
We
all have pain
We
all have sorrow
But-
If we are wise
We
know that there's
Always
tomorrow
Lean
on me
When
you're not strong
And
I'll be your friend
I'll
help you carry on
For-
It won't be long
'Til
I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Link stopped playing.
"What did you stop for?" Rick asked. "That was good."
"Not as good as Kevin," Mike said.
"I'm a bit rusty," Link lamely said.
"Can you play Mau Mau's song?" Rick asked. Link looked at him, having no idea what Rick was talking about. "You don't remember that anymore, either," Rick grumbled. "Man, that's what I hate about you're memory having holes in it after that incident. I never know what you remember or don't remember until I ask."
Link frowned and put down Kevin's guitar. "Ummm... guys... I've gotta go."
"Where?" Mike asked.
"Why?" Kevin asked.
"Six times in five days my memory's failed me," Link said softly, almost too soft for anyone to hear. The warp opened and Link stepped back in. The warp closed after he stepped through.
"Was it something I said?" Rick asked.
North Castle, Hyrule (Late Evening)-
Link walked into the throne room, where the Triforce was perched. His gaze uncontiously fell onto the Triforce of Courage, the one that represented what he most believed in. Nearly everyone else had gone to bed, save for the guards who seemed to be making their beds where they were standing. Link did not have his green jerkin or floppy cap, only the brown shirt, pants, boots, belt, and scabbard. He stood in silence for nearly a minute before finally speaking.
"Why?"
The Triforce didn't respond to his one word question. He hadn't really expected it to. But he continued anyway. "Why did you give me information to save Hyrule, eke destroy my memory... and not replace them?" He still didn't get a responce. "You have any idea how hard it is not to know where you've been, what you've done, who you know? People expect me to remember something, and I haven't the slightest clue what they're talking about."
He stared at the Triforce, it failed to respond to him again. "Darn it!" Link exclaimed. "Don't you care?"
"It cares," a voice behind Link said. Link spun around to find himself face to face with a lovely blue haired woman. "It just doesn't have a frame of reference."
"Who are you?" Link demanded.
"A guide," the woman responded.
"To where?" Link asked, still leary about the woman.
"To you," the woman stated.
Link frowned. "You're being cryptic. I hate it when people do that. As if the Triforce of Wisdom doing that wasn't bad enough."
The woman took Link's hand. "I will show you."
Arn & Medila's House, Calatia (Noon)-
An eight year old boy and his four year old brother were pressed against a door, ears to glass cups, glass cups to door. On the other side of the door were three adults.
"His head's in the clouds enough as it is!" an adult male said. "I don't need him going off and getting wild notions in his head, especially from you!"
"Look," said a second adult male, "the more you keep him here, the more he's going to want to go off. He's already got these 'wild notions' as you call them. Arn, you can't keep him here all his life."
"What, Acts? You don't like how I handle my kids, so you want to take them? Is that it?"
"Honey," protested an adult female. "I'm sure you're brother didn't mean anything by that."
"Arn," Acts said, "you and Medila need a break from the kids anyway. Concider it a vacation. I'm not proposing to take them away forever, just a little trip up there and a little trip back. Honestly! I'm not planning on sticking them in a echelon! I just thought it'd be nice for them to see something outside of this little village... you know... bring back suveniers to show to their friends."
"C'mon, honey," Medila said. "It's a great idea."
"Absolutly not!" Arn said. "Those two boys'll go out, come back, and not want to do any work."
"Goodness sakes!" Acts exclaimed. "I'm not going to mollycoddle them! You're being a mome!"
"Mother and father should never have let you go away," Arn muttered. "You've come back with so many archaic words... my children will probably pick up on that... If for nothing else, I don't want them learning useless words."
"Your eldest draws dragons in his school books," Acts said.
There was silence.
"He does?" Medila finally broke the silence.
"That's what I mean!" Arn said. "He's already so oneiric, I don't need him any more dreamy than he already is."
"And you accused him of strange vocabulary?" Medila asked.
Again there was silence. "Quite simply,' Acts finally broke the silence, "what harm would it do to let them see the world?"
The boys could hear one of the room's occupants engage in massive pacing. The pacing stopped, scrapping to a halt as if the pacer suddenly turned around to face one of the other room occupants. "Okay, Acts," Arn said in a low voice. "This once. Just this once. Then no more of it. No more talk of taking them anywhere. Got it?"
"Great! Let me tell them," Acts said. A second set of feet moved about the room, dirrected towards the door. The two boys quickly dashed away from the door to the opposite end of the room, where they had left their card game they had been playing before eavesdropping. A large, heavyset, black haired man appeared at the door. "Hey! Link, Jayce!"
The boys looked up, pretending to have been in the middle of their cardgame. "Uncle Acts?" Link asked.
"Yeah, Unca Acts?" Jayce asked.
"How would you feel about a little trip?" Acts asked them.
"Where?" Link asked, almost cracking a smile, knowing already where they were headed.
"Hyrule," Acts said.
The boys couldn't contain themselves anymore and started leaping up and down, shouting joyously. From somewhere behind Acts, Arn said, "I just know I'm going to regret letting you do this."
"One thing at a time, dear brother," Acts said.
Dragon Wood Forest, Hyrule (Late Morning)-
In the three months after the trip started, Link and Jayce's lust for adventure seemed to have been conciderably tempered by the fact that getting from point A to point B took time. The trip thus far had been uneventful and of little interest.
Even in Hyrule, Murphy's Law had a way of taking effect. In this case, that ment that this very boring trip was about to get a whole lot more exciting, in ways days were not suppose to get exciting.
The wagon the three were riding in was slowly advancing down the road. Guarenteed bandit bait. Several dark clothed people on cold blood horses quickly rode out of the woods and encircled the wagon. "What do you want?" Acts demanded.
The leader stared at Acts with intense golden eyes. With one flick of the wrist, the leader sent one of the others forward, pike extended. Acts threw his fist, catching the darck clothed person on the side of the head. The person stepped back, only slightly hazed by the punch. For Acts' efforts, he recieved a whack in the head from the pike, sending him falling from the wagon uncontious and bleeding heavily.
The leader's attention shifted to the two boys. In one swift motion, two arms picked the two boys up, planting them on two different horses. The band turned and galloped away, leaving the wagon with it's fallen adult occupant.
North Castle, Hyrule (Late Evening)-
Link stepped back sharply. "Stop it! I don't need that. I remember that." His hands shook violently. "ghAAAAHHH!" Sobs started wracking his chest and shoulders. He fell to his knees hard.
The blue haired woman placed a hand on Link's shoulder. "It is okay."
"No..." Link's voice cracked. "It's not okay. He died there and I sat there like an idiot. I let them take me. I should have fought! Should have done something! I shouldn't have let my uncle die..."
"What could you have done?" the woman asked. When Link gave no answer, the woman continued. "Exactly. A young, untrained boy would have been little more than a mosquito to them." The woman's hand left Link's shoulder and beseached his hand again. "I must guide you to more."
"Why?" Link's shoulders still wracked. "I know this, what good does it do to show me again?"
"Watch carefully and you will learn something you didn't know back then."
Shaking, Link looked at the woman. The Triforce watched in silence.
Dragon Wood Forest, Hyrule (Late Afternoon)-
Link had not seen his four year old brother since the people in dark clothing separated them. His clothing now sported several tears in it, and bloodstains courtesy his now bloody nose (kindly provided by the fist of one of the people in dark clothing). His hands were tied behind his back, his mouth was gagged. One of the people came over, and stuck a bit of food in front of his face. Link turned his head.
The person forced open Link's mouth and shoved the food in. It tasted horrible. Link wanted to spit it out, but the person held his mouth shut, and he was forced to swallow.
Satisfied, the person got up and walked away.
Link sat in the dirt, watching the others take off their masks to eat. Even in his tired stupor, Link didn't fail to notice that all the dark clothed people were women. Red haired women with golden eyes... and ski slopes for noses.
Correction... one of them was a man. But he too had red hair, golden eyes... and ski slope nose. He got up from the log he had sat on and walked over to Link. He looked down, looking very impressive while he did that. He bent over, and took Link's chin by his humongious hands. "You want to know why we took you?" It didn't sound like a question when he said it.
Link simply sat there, staring at the man, studying the man's every feature.
The man smiled evily. "I need someone your size to help me get what I need so I can take my rightful place as ruler of the world." Catching no responce from Link, the man added, "You, or that other boy will do." Again, Link didn't respond, though inside he was teething. "I'm impressed, boy. Your self control will make you into a fine Gerudo."
North Castle, Hyrule (Late Evening)-
"Is there something?" the woman asked.
"I know that voice," Link frowned. "That's Ganon's voice! Wait a minute! Did he say Gerudo? Zelda and Lana went..."
"We will get to that later," the woman said. "I must guide you more."
Dragon Wood Forest, Hyrule (Late Afternoon)-
Ganondorf's head suddenly snapped up. "What in the world was that?" Suddenly, a sharp ping sent Ganondorf spinning and falling to the ground. Emediatly, the other Gerudo were up on their feet, looking around. Pings came from everywhere, knocking into the Gerudos.
One shot wizzed by Link's head. He recognized it as a slingshot. Smoke started coming in from somewhere, blocking everyone's view. In the midst of the sudden chaos, hands grabbed Link, pulling him somewhere.
When his vision cleared, he was a considerable distance from the band, having his hands cut free by a gieen haired girl not much taller than he was. A boy, about the same height, raced up to the girl's side. "Did you get the other?" the girl asked.
The boy shook his head. "We couldn't. Those grown-ups grabbed him before taking off."
The girl looked at Link sympathetically. "I'm sorry."
Only then did it hit Link. He had been rescued, but his brother was still captive. "We've gotta go after him!"
"We can't," the girl said. "We can't leave the forest or we'll die. Look, I'm sorry... but..." The girl paused. "The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you."
Link did a double take. "Me? A tree wants to talk to me?"
"The Great Deku Tree," the girl corrected.