Shards

Chapter 2 - The Questing Hero
In which Link meets several people who are even crazier than he is.

	As the days slipped by I felt increasingly restless.   Several months had passed since I'd returned from the future and prevented it from happening.  I'd lived most of that time at Hyrule Castle, the guest of the princess Zelda.  She was my friend, and I enjoyed her company, even if I often felt like she was far, far younger than I.  Yes we were physically the same age, but my experience made me feel older than I looked.  Some days it angered me, being treated like a child.  Other days I was glad of it, and glad of the chance to play games without the fate of the world resting on my every move.  

	Shadow was always glad.  He'd told me he wasn't a hero, and didn't want to be one.  And he'd also said he liked Zelda, though he never played with her.  He went to great lengths to hide that he and I were one.  And I did the same.  I don't know that I could put the reason into words, but I didn't want people to know.  And not just so that I wouldn't get in trouble for his many pranks.

	But that wasn't why I was restless.  I wasn't completely sure what lay behind it.  Loneliness was part of it.  Zelda was my friend, but she didn't understand me.  She'd had a relatively normal childhood.  I'd had anything but.  Shadow understood me, but although I found myself thinking of him as a friend we couldn't exactly play together.  Though I didn't know if I wanted to play with anyone anymore.  

	I found myself thinking more and more of my past, near and distant.  Of the warrior I'd been.  Of the lonely boy I'd been before.  Navi had taken me from my lonely childhood and ushered me into my life as a hero.  She had been a friend too, although a strange one.  I found I missed her.  I missed Saria too.  Navi was gone, to who knows where, but Saria was still at the Kokiri village, so one day I decided to set out for Kokiri Forest.

	With a song I called Epona to me.  Seeing her again I realized I'd missed her while I'd been in the castle.  She was younger than when I'd ridden her, of course, still practically a filly.  But I was small and light enough that she could bear me, though she had no saddle. So we rode together across Hyrule Field.  I could hear Shadow whooping in delight whenever Epona leaped.  He always liked anything that was exciting or dangerous.

	The Kokiri village was the same as I recalled.  Nothing there ever changed.  But Saria was nowhere to be found.  She must be somewhere in the Lost Woods. I knew, or hoped I knew, what spot was the most likely.

	As we entered the woods, Shadow asked if he could take over for a while.  The creatures of the forest weren't especially dangerous, and he was always eager for experiences, so I agreed.  I was getting used to watching while he made use of my body.  He seemed to delight in harassing the Deku Scrubs and Skull Kids of the forest.  But the Skull Kids in particular gave as good as they got when it came to pranks and games.  I could tell that Shadow didn't mind, he seemed to immensely enjoy the trip.  It took longer than it would have if I were the one navigating, but we had time to spare.

	Finally we were almost there, to the place I thought of first and foremost as Saria's special place, though it was also the entrance to the Forest Temple.  Shadow retreated, allowing my hair and clothing to return to normal.  I continued forward, climbing the crumbling steps that led up to the Temple entrance itself.

	She was there as I had hoped, sitting on a stump and singing softly.

	"Saria," I called out.

	She turned to me and smiled.  "Link.  What brings you here?"

	"I just wanted to see you," I said, feeling suddenly awkward.  She was my childhood friend, and the one who'd practically raised me under the Deku Tree's direction, but I was no longer the Kokiri boy without a fairy, I was Link, a Hylian, and the Hero of Time.  Too much had changed.

	"I'm glad," she said.  "Come sit by me."

	I sat on the stump, and looked down at my hands. They were callused, roughened by the hilt of my sword.  Should a child's hands be callused?  

	"You look troubled," said Saria gently.

	"Yeah.  I guess I am."

	"Do you want to tell me about it?"

	"I just... I don't know."  [i]There's somebody else in my head,[/i]T I thought but didn't say it out loud.  But that was only one of my problems, and I wasn't ready to talk about Shadow with anyone.  Still, perhaps Saria could help me with some of my other troubles.  She'd always been able to comfort me when I'd been upset or hurt as a child.  But I wasn't a child any more. That in and of itself was much of what currently bothered me.  "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, or who I am, anymore.  I thought I was a Kokiri, and I'm not.  I look like a child, but I don't feel like I am.  I had a quest, and the quest is finished, so now I don't have anything.  Zelda doesn't understand.  I don't know if you will understand either.  I feel so alone sometimes."  I fought against tears, I didn't want to cry.

	"Oh Link.  You're not alone.  Maybe I don't completely understand, but I'm still your friend."

	"I'm sorry Saria.  I didn't mean to say you're not my friend.  Just... I don't even know."  I couldn't find the words to explain how I felt.

	"It's all right.  You are a very unique person, Link.  But that's not necessarily a bad thing.  And I'll try my best to understand you if you tell me about it.  I know you were meant to be a great hero, I've always known that.  And I know you've completed your quest. But obviously there's more to tell."

	"Yeah.  So much has happened."

	"Tell me about it, I'll listen."

	So I told her. The whole story.  The future, Ganondorf, Sheik, the Sages, the Princess, all of it.  Every part except one, for I made no mention of the Water Temple's endless room, or of Shadow.  When I was done she turned and hugged me. "You've done so much.  You're right, you're not a child any more.  People may still see you as one, but that doesn't make it true."

	"Then what am I, Saria?"

	"A hero."

	"But shouldn't heroes be happy?  Shouldn't heroes be glad when they've succeeded?  I almost want to wind time back again and refuse to warn Zelda this time, so I can just do it over.  But I don't really want to fight this battle endlessly, that would be selfish and pointless.  It's better this way, I know, with everyone saved, and Hyrule never conquered in the first place.  But it makes me feel so useless."

	"Then maybe you need to find another quest to go on.  Maybe there's somewhere else, outside of Hyrule, that needs saving."

	"Outside Hyrule..." I'd never thought of that before.  The kingdoms outside were strange, dangerous places.  But then I'd seldom flinched at the thought of danger.  So why not?

	"And there's something else.  Navi has left Hyrule."

	I blinked at her, surprised.  "She has?  Why?"

	"She told me, before she went, that the Deku Tree had told her to do it, long ago.  She also said that it was important.  I thought that she had left you because you're a Hylian, and she didn't want the sadness of being around you if she couldn't really be your fairy, but maybe that's not why.  Maybe it's because she knew you'd need to go out there, into the wider world, and it would be easier if she went ahead of you."

	[i]:She may be right:[/i]  I tried not to show my surprise at Shadow's interjection.  [i]:And I like the idea of leaving Hyrule.:

	:I'm not so sure about it,:[/i] I replied silently.  Out loud I said, "You really think I should leave Hyrule?"

	"I think you should consider it.  I'll miss you, and I know Zelda will too, but you're a hero.  You don't belong in a kingdom at peace.  You belong somewhere that needs you. Somewhere where you can help people."

	Something about that felt right.  Part of the restlessness I had been feeling had been loneliness.  But only part.  The rest... I was meant to be on a quest.  I was meant to be trying to do something.  I was meant to have a goal, and a purpose.  That was what I was missing in my life, that sense of purpose.

	"You're right.  Thank you Saria."

-----
	
	I went back to the castle first.  I had to say goodbye to Zelda.  She surprised me by giving me the Ocarina of Time.  I knew how special and powerful that instrument was.  It somehow made it harder to say goodbye to her, that she'd given me it to remember her by.  I knew she would miss me. But I also knew I had to go.  Shadow agreed.

	And so we went.  Quietly and without fanfare.  We said goodbye to Saria when we passed once more through Kokiri Forest.  And then we rode into the Lost Woods, bearing only my sword, my shield, and the ocarina.  

	[i]:This should be great!:[/i] said Shadow.  [i]:Adventure!  New places to see!  New games to play!:[/i]

	I laughed.  [i]:Yeah.  I'd rather do some real good, not just play games, but I am excited to be going.:

	:That's... wait!:[/i]  Shadow suddenly grabbed control, halting Epona and scanning the forest around us.  [i]:Something's not right.:

	:Hey!:

	:We're being watched.  We need...:[/i] He yelped out loud as Epona reared and dumped us off of her back.  We landed hard enough to stun us both.  I felt Shadow cry out silently as blackness closed around us.  When I shook myself awake I was in control again.  A few feet away I saw a Skull Kid, with two glowing forms drifting around him.  Fairies!  He seemed to be laughing, so we had no doubt been the victims of a Skull Kid prank.  It wouldn't be the first time.  But I'd never seen one working with a fairy before.  He turned to face me.  His mask was strange, unlike any I'd seen a Skull Kid wear.  It didn't seem to have eye holes, only staring painted eyes.  How could he see?

	[i]:Something isn't right about him.  Be careful Link:

	:I will... but he's got my ocarina!:[/i] I suddenly noticed him holding it behind his back  [i]:I can't let him have that!:[/i]  I jumped at him, but he leapt impossibly high and came down on Epona's back.  She, never willing to tolerate any rider but me, took off at a gallop.  I grabbed at them both as she raced past me, but only managed to get the Skull Kid's ankle.  The next few moments were a blur of adrenaline as I clung desperately to him, my feet dragging across the rough forest floor, and the Skull Kid tried to shake me off while himself clinging precariously to her mane.  Then Epona swerved and I lost my grip.

	[i]:Damn it!:[/i]  Shadow practically growled inside my head.

	I agreed with the sentiment.  I quickly picked myself up and ran after them.  I hoped that Epona would manage to throw the Skull Kid soon, so I could catch up and get my ocarina back.  I ran headlong through the woods, but almost immediately came to a seeming dead end.  But there was a path forward, through a hollow tree trunk, into darkness ahead.  I was too angry, and too determined, to hesitate; I plunged ahead blindly.

	And suddenly the world fell out from under my feet.  I'd run into empty space, and now I tumbled down into blackness.

	In the darkness it seemed as though I dreamed.  I was falling endlessly through shape and color.  Images, familiar and strange, swirled around me.  I sensed magic.  Or was I truly dreaming?  

	With a jolt I woke, or landed, or arrived... somewhere.  I was standing on a deku flower.  Ahead of me was a large, still pool.  Around us were the stone walls of a cave, above the ceiling vanished into blackness.  And on the far side of the pool the Skull Kid lounged in midair.  

	[i]:Skull Kids don't levitate,:[/i] said Shadow, sounding worried.

	[i]:I know.  Something is very wrong here.:[/i]

	"What's with that stupid horse of yours?"  The Skull Kid's voice was darkly sarcastic, nothing like any Skull Kid I'd heard before.  They were mischievous, playful, prone to pranks but not to malice.  This voice sounded like the very epitome of maliciousness.  "It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it."

	I had no answer for him.  I had the feeling that anything I said would only make whatever was to come worse.

	"There's no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favor and got rid of it.  Hee hee."

	I'm sure my face showed my shock.  [i]:No!  Not Epona,:[/i] said Shadow, equally shocked.

	"Aww, boo hoo.  Why the sad face?  I just thought I'd have a little fun with you."  The words were words a Skull Kid might have said, but the voice...  I shuddered.  "Oh come now," he continued.  "Do you really think you can beat me as I am now?  Fool!"  I had no time to think what he might mean by that, for suddenly the world around me began to throb and shake.  Or was it only myself that was shaking?  Everything was a blur.  I doubled over in unexpected pain, clutching my head.  Then I was forced to stand up again, as though Shadow had taken over my body, but I could feel him there with me, in the corner of my mind where I sat and watched. Something else was moving me.  Alien images passed before my eyes, dark forms with glowing eyes.  Things that rustled and swayed around me.  I ran from them, or was I running?  Was it just my mind that fled, or did my body move too?  Everything was confusion and darkness.  The things behind me became a single pursuing monster, a gigantic creature that caught me and sucked my tiny self inside.

	Then reality returned and I was standing on the deku flower again, as if nothing had happened.  Or had reality returned?  I looked down, and my reflection wasn't me.  Glowing orange eyes stared back. Skin the texture and color of wood.  A round snout of a mouth.  A Deku Scrub looked back at me from the water.

	I shook my head.  No!  This couldn't be real!  This was some kind of dream!  [i]:I hope it's a dream,:[/i] said Shadow in horror.  [i]:Please goddesses, let it be a dream!:[/i]

	Laughter interrupted my horror and I looked up at the Skull Kid.  "Hee hee!  Now that's a good look for you!  You'll stay here looking that way forever!"  He began to float out of the room, still laughing.

	[i]:No!:[/i] said Shadow.  I agreed.  I ran after him, but one of the fairies dove at me.  It battered me in the face, and my new form was so small that the fairy actually pushed me backwards.  I fell.  The Skull kid floated out through a large door, still laughing.  The laughter enraged me.  I had no idea how, but I was going to catch him!  But the door slammed and he was gone.

	The fairy let out a yelp of alarm.  "Woah!  Woah!  Skull Kid, wait for me!  I'm still here! Tael, you can't leave without me!"  She beat herself frantically against the door.  I got to my feet, still feeling somewhat in shock.  She gave up her futile attempt to beat the door down and flew at me.  "You! If I wasn't dealing with you I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother!"

	I stared at her.  [i]She[/i] was angry at [i]me[/i]?

	"Well don't just sit there, Deku boy!  Do something!"

	[i]:What the hell does she expect us to do?  If I were going to do anything I'd squash her like a bug!:[/i] said Shadow.

	"Why are you looking at me like that?  What, is there something stuck on my face?"

	[i]:Is she insane?:[/i] said Shadow.

	[i]:I think so, yes.:[/i]

	"Will you stop staring and just open that door for me?!  Please!  Come on, a helpless little girl is asking you.  So hurry up!"

	She floated a bit towards the door.  I just stared.

	"Oh Tael...  I wonder if that child will be all right on his own?"  The comic outrage in her voice faded.  She sounded genuinely worried.  I felt a pang of sympathy.  Tael must be the other fairy, the brother she'd mentioned.  She was concerned for him.  I took a step towards the door.

	[i]:You're not seriously considering helping her?: 

	:I am.:

	:Link... she is friends with that thing that turned us into a Deku Scrub.  There is no way you should be helping her.:

	:She wants the door open, Shadow.  Helping her or not, I don't want to stay the rest of my life in this room:

	:Fine, just be reasonable,:[/i] said Shadow grumpily.  I laughed silently at him, surprised at how normal we were both being, considering what had just happened, and headed for the door.

	The door was fortunately easy to open.  I felt hopelessly weak.  I was half the size I'd been.  I couldn't so much as lift my sword, I was sure.  Wait!  My sword!  It was no longer on my back.  My shield was gone too!  I had a moment of panic.  The sword I'd carried was an ordinary blade, but I didn't want to lose it!  [i]:Woah, calm down,:[/i] said Shadow.  [i]:If you've lost it you can worry about it later.  Maybe it'll come back when whatever curse this is gets lifted.  I think fixing that is more important right now.:

	:Right.  Of course. Thanks.:[/i]  I took a deep, calming breath and started down the corridor beyond the door.  I still felt baffled and a little shocked, but I had a goal.  A quest, even, albeit a purely selfish one.  I would find out how this curse had been cast and I would discover some way to lift it.

	"Hey!  Wait for me!  Don't leave me behind!"

	I gave the fairy an incredulous look, or as much of one as a Deku Scrub's mostly immobile face could.  She wanted to come with me?

	She must have read that look somehow, for she bobbed in the air uncertainly and said, "So, um, that stuff back there... I, um, apologize, so... take me with you!  You wanna know about that Skull Kid that ran off, right?  Well, I just so happen to have an idea of where he might be going.  Take me with you and I'll help you out.  Deal?"

	I hesitated.  [i]:Shadow?  What do you think?:

	:I think she probably can't be trusted, but then I think that of most people.  A fairy can be useful, but I'm not sure it's worth it.:[/i]

	He had a point.  But something in her obvious distress spoke to me.  I was a hero, wasn't I?  I was supposed to help people, even fairies.  And perhaps even the friends of my enemies.

	"Please?"

	I was about to nod, when she said, "Good! So then it's settled!"

	[i]:What?:[/i]  Shadow's surprise mirrored my own.  This fairy was crazy.

	"I'll be your partner, at least until we catch that Skull Kid.  My name's Tatl.  So.  Uh.  Nice to meet you or whatever."  She paused for just an instant, I couldn't have replied even if I'd known what to say, before she continued, "Now that we've got that all straightened out, can we stop messing around and get moving?"

	I shook my head, but followed when she darted ahead.  She was crazy, but I could use her help, and she could use mine too.  So for now at least she was right, we were partners.

	A moment later I came to the end of the corridor. A huge chasm gaped in front of me.  On the edge of it grew a deku flower.  I stood on the bloom.  I felt natural beneath my feet.  I knew that Deku Scrubs used their flowers, they could do... something with them. But what?  And how?

	"You're not very used to your Deku Scrub body yet, are you?"

	I resisted the urge to shoot her a glare.  [i]:Way to state the obvious,:[/i] said Shadow sarcastically.  I got the feeling that if he'd been the one running things right now he'd have said it out loud too.

	"You need to duck inside the flower.  Stand there at the center, you can do it.  Then jump up, the flower will shoot you into the air and you can float across."

	I looked at the fairy.  I looked at the flower.  I looked at the chasm.  I took another deep breath and centered myself in the middle of the odd blossom.  I sensed Shadow biting back some comment, no doubt something sarcastic.  I appreciated his not interrupting me.  I felt nervous, afraid in a way I'd seldom been before. But I wasn't going to back down.  I needed to go forward and escape this place, even if the Skull Kid had said I'd be stuck here forever.  I was going to prove him wrong.

	It felt strange and yet natural at the same time, to crouch and duck into the blossom.  And likewise with leaping into the air and floating down.  I was a feather, or a seed on the wind.  I could soar forever!  Shadow laughed in delight, somewhere inside my mind.

	And then I was down, solid ground on the far side under my feet.  I'd done it.

	On the far side of the chasm stood a tiny tree.  It had a face, like the Great Deku Tree and its child the Deku Tree Sprout had had.  Was it a young Deku tree as well?  If so why was it here, underground?  How had it grown here?  Wouldn't it die without sunlight?  

	I shrugged off the questions.  I didn't have time to stop and consider a strange tree.  I needed to get going.  I ran down the tunnel on the far side of the little tree.  Ahead I saw something, some strange mechanism.  Gears turned with steady deliberation, the sound of their slow grinding filling the air.  I stepped forward, and a door slammed shut behind me.

	Shadow cursed in my mind.  I wanted to mutter a curse or two myself.  I wasn't happy about any of this.  I started forward into the room.  Tatl floated with me silently.

	"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

	I spun around.  Standing a little ways away was a man with a stiff, unnatural smile on his face and a strange shape looming over his shoulder.  I shivered, and Tatl hid behind me.  Though something about the man looked  faintly familiar.  Where had I seen him before?  Somewhere in Hyrule Castle's market town, it seemed. 

	"I own the Happy Mask Shop," he said, as though he'd read my mind.

	[i]:Of course! He's the mask seller,:[/i] said Shadow.  [i]:The one who vanished not long after you returned from the future.:[/i]

	He was right.  That smiling face was the mask seller.  And now that he'd said it I recognized the shapes looming behind him in the darkness as masks, strapped to the pack he wore. 

	"I travel far and wide in search of masks.  During my travels a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods.  So here I am at a loss.  And now I've found you."  He nodded at me, still smiling.  

	[i]:I don't like him,:[/i] said Shadow.

	"I know of a way to return you to your former self."

	[i]:Okay, maybe I like him a little.  Maybe.  If he's telling the truth.:[/i]

	"If you can get back the precious item that was stolen from you I will return you to normal.  In exchange, all I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me."

	[i]:Forget "in exchange," if he can turn us back, we should just make him do it!:

	:We can't do that.  It wouldn't be right.:

	:We could get his "precious mask" a lot easier if we were back to normal, I bet.:

	:No.:[/i]

	Shadow sighed mentally.  [i]:Fine.  Stubborn hero.:[/i]

	"What?  Is it not a simple task?"  The seller seemed amused, as though he knew of our internal argument.  "Why to someone like you it should by no means be a difficult task.  Except..." That smile didn't waver.  It was starting to really unnerve me.  "The one thing is, I'm a very busy fellow.  And I must leave this place in three days.  How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up."  He nodded again, still smiling.  I shivered.  "But yes,  you'll be fine.  I see you are young and have tremendous courage."  

	His smile was somehow too knowing.  Courage.  Did he know that I still bore the Triforce of Courage?  

	"I'm sure you'll find it right away.  I am counting on you."  He nodded at me, and I felt that somehow I'd been manipulated.  I hadn't agreed to anything!  But should I say no to him?  Could I, when he might be the only way to be Hylian again?  

	[i]:Damn it, I'm back to not liking him.  He can't be trusted, Link.:

	:If he can change us back...:

	:Yeah, yeah.  I guess you wanted a quest.  Now you've got one.:

	:Not the one I wanted. But yes.  Let's go.:[/i]  I nodded back at the mask seller, and turned to leave.

	The door out of the room full of gears was huge, at least compared to my tiny body, but I managed to open it.  Outside it was dawn.  Early morning light cast long shadows all around me.  I stood in a town, and above me towered an enormous clock.  That was the reason for the gears.  Around me the morning bustle of a town coming to life was beginning.  Everyone I saw was a Hylian, there were no Deku Scrubs, nor Gorons nor Zora.  I felt afraid and out of place.  And tiny.  I was hardly knee high on the adult Hylians that strode around me.

	Still, I couldn't stand in front of the clock forever, so I took a deep breath and set off into the town.

-----
	
	How can I say what Clock Town was like?  I was there for three days.  I was there for an eternity... but I'm getting ahead of myself.  The first thing I did, at Tatl's direction, was to find a Great Fairy's Fountain.  Tatl assured me that the fairy could help me, and that she would be more than a match for the Skull Kid's power.

	But when we reached the fountain we found the unexpected.  Hovering over the waters were a dozen strange, quasi-humanoid forms.  They glowed like fairies, and had wings like fairies, but they were like no fairies I'd ever seen before.  They spoke, a single voice chorused from a dozen tiny throats.  The Skull Kid, they said, had cursed them.  He had shattered the Great Fairy into pieces, and some of those pieces had been lost, trapped outside the fountain.  She needed my help to rescue her.

	I can't tell you how my heart sunk to hear that.  I had hoped for a swift solution.  The fairy's magical aid would let me find and catch the Skull Kid.  I would retrieve my ocarina and the mask and be returned to myself.  It might not even take three days.  But now... if the Skull Kid's power was greater than a Great Fairy's power, it might rival Ganondorf's.  And I'd had the Seven Sages, light arrows, an adult body, and the Master Sword when I'd faced him. What did I have now?  Nothing at all.  I was a tiny, helpless creature that couldn't even wield the short Kokiri sword.  I wanted to sink to my knees in the fountain's waters and weep.  I'd never felt so afraid.

	[i]:Link...:[/i]  Shadow's mental voice was hesitant, and I knew he was afraid too.  [i]:Link, don't give up.  You're still a hero.  You'll find a way. There has to be one.  Please Link, don't give up.  You can't give up.  For my sake, if not for your own, you need to at least try.:[/i]

	That somehow was heartening.  Shadow needed me.   And so did Tatl, and the Great Fairy.  I couldn't give up, Shadow was right.  Even as a Deku Scrub I was still the Hero of Time.  I'd beaten Ganondorf.  I'd faced every danger I'd passed through, and faced them with courage.  I looked down at my hand.  It was faint, and strange against the wood texture of the Deku Scrub body I wore, but the Triforce mark was still there.  I still had Courage.  I couldn't betray that, it would be betraying everything I was.

	[i]:You're right.  I have to try.:[/i]

	I could almost see Shadow smile.  [i]:That's the hero I know.  Let's go explore this town.  Maybe we can find the lost pieces and restore the fairy.  Maybe somebody else knows something about the Skull Kid.  Maybe we'll find some kind of weapon you can use as a Deku Scrub.  All sorts of things are possible:

	:You're right.  Thank you, Shadow.:[/i]

	I left the fountain filled with determination.  I wasn't going to be afraid.  Though even as I straightened and gathered my courage, I thought I heard a faint whisper, for a moment, somewhere deep within me.  [i]:Still so scared...:[/i]