[002 ∆ the song of time]

[childhero]

Characters: Link (Majora's Mask) and YOU
Setting: The hallway of floor one
Format: Action
Summary: Where has Link been? Not in the Tower, but instead wandering the ruins of Termina... and now he's back. And he isn't really taking any of this too well. ENJOY.
Warnings: Writing from 3:30am. Angsting children. Timey wimey shenanigans. THREE DAYS.

[This can't be.

It can't.

It was a dream. It was a nightmare. It wasn't real.

He saw it for his own eyes. The ruins of a world he knows almost as well as his own, full of people he knew better than the people of his own, one that he had come to love. He was there. He breathed the air, felt the broken earth, walked among what was left. He couldn't stop shaking. He doesn't know how long he was there -- an hour? a day? a month? Time felt strange there. Time felt broken, too.

Time...

He still had time.

Right?

He had all the time he needed. (But if time was broken, too -- if Termina had been so utterly and thoroughly destroyed that not even time -- not even the gods -- no.)

Link can be found standing in the middle of the hallway. He is clutching a blue ocarina in his hands and he is playing a song. Just the one. Over and over and over and over and over again -- because obviously, if he keeps playing it, it has to start working again, right? He can't stop. He can't afford to. He only pauses for breath, but the song never stops.

It has to work. It has to. It will.]

Comments

[ocariness]

[ ... The music is heard, and this Link has to wonder just what, exactly, is going on. ]

...

[ Not quite sure if there are words to say to this, obviously something has happened, but... pausing gingerly to glance at him. ]

Are... you all right?

[fairydusting]

[Is... is that... Link? The young Link she cannot ever forget, the one she's most used to..

And yet behind her is the same Link, only older! Something doesn't make sense here.

The Song of Time practically seals the deal, and she's convinced that this boy is also Link, time shenanigans aside.

What... to do...]

Link, is that your younger self?

[GEE NAVI...]

[childhero]

[Link almost drops the ocarina.

That voice.

For a moment he can't breathe. He was just going to ignore his older self (can't stop can't stop it has to work), but that -- but -- ]

Na -- Navi?

[His voice is of a lost child.]

[ocariness]

... Yes and no.

[ Time shenanigans. But... why do they feel like there's something going over their head, here?

There's staring for a moment; this Link is from before the final battle and does not yet understand these implications. ]

...

[ What... is going on? ]

[cantstopme]

[This Link had just been wandering about the tower, trying to get a good sense of things and how the place works, when he heard the ocarina play - he knows only one person who plays the ocarina, and that's...]

'Hoooy!
Big brother!

[... Except, turning the corner, that's definitely not his "big brother". That's... another kid. Like him!]

Oh, um... sorry, I thought you were someone else.

A friend of mine plays an ocarina like that, so I thought you were him...

[childhero]

[Someone's talking. Link opens his eyes to look --

A younger him. More cheerful. Eyes more clear. He isn't that much younger, just a few years, but --

Time... Time, what are you doing?

He lowers the ocarina, but only because he needs to investigate and find out what's going on. Did -- Did time really break? Is he really facing his past self? If it really did break, then... (No no no no no. There is something else going on here.)]

... Friend? ["Him"? There weren't a lot of other Kokiri who played the ocarina. The other girls could play, but it was mostly Saria, and certainly not any of the other boys. So, what...?]

[cantstopme]

... Hmm?

[He can't help tilting his head a bit at that, a little confused. Yes, he's... a friend. Or is he asking if that's who he was looking for?]

Yeah, I'm talking about my friend! He looks a lot like you, but much older.
He's not really my big brother; I just call him that.

[This Link reaches up to mess with his hat a little - he's still unsure about this tunic, post-game or not - but he's going to give the other a smile anyway.]

Are you Link, too?

[childhero]

[His other self... The one who was in the Tower before Link arrived. The one Zelda said they could trust. If this little one is friends with the older one, then, he can't be that... bad... but why, if he isn't...

Link's head starts to hurt, but he nods in response to the question. What is happening here.]

[dragonspooker]

[Enter one mildly annoyed sorceress, though she's at least trying to be tactful. Trying.]

Hoy, hoy, it's a good song, kid, but a little variety wouldn't hurt...

[childhero]

[Sorry, he can't stop. Not just for someone complaining. He's got to keep trying.

Attempt one to get the kid to shut up, fail. Try again?]

[dragonspooker]

[Welp, that didn't work, so Lina will crouch down in his face - though she might not have to do so at all, given her stature.]

Hey, are you listening to me?

[childhero]

[Oh Din why is this girl in his face now

The close proximity forces Link to open his eyes and take a step back. He keeps playing, but he's giving the girl a look of "what even."

... for good measure, he'll give the slightest of nods. He doesn't want to disrupt the song.]

[theherourherocouldbelike]

[Today had started off... not so well. He had gotten completely chewed out by another Link for capturing a fairy in a bottle even though he wasn't the one who did it and that can ruin a morning. But instead of going back to bed like he had planned, he decided to wander around the tower.

Something catches his attention, a song. He hadn't heard any music in the Tower since he got here so it peaked his interest. He follows the sound until he comes to the little boy who was playing it. They looked like the other Link who was about Skyward Sword's age, only a boy. This peaked his interest even more but at the moment, the boy seemed a little distraught. He walks over quietly.]

...I doubt you are playing that specific song repetitively just for fun.

[childhero]

[For a moment, Link thought this was his older self, so he opened his eyes, but... no. The voice is wrong. The hair color is wrong. The equipment is wrong. This person is still recognizable -- there is no denying a Link when you see or hear one -- but... He doesn't know... who this is. (What a strange thing to think.)

Is this... a future him, maybe? Caused by whatever is wrong with time?

Link doesn't stop playing (maybe this will fix things; this has to fix it), but he shakes his head (carefully) to confirm what this other... Link said.]

[theherourherocouldbelike]

[He walks over a little closer.]

Is there a special meaning to this song?

[He didn't want to be rude and up in the other's business but he was really curious!]

[childhero]

[This time, Link nods. He studies this other. He... doesn't know the song. So this can't be a future version of himself, because there is no way, no way at all he could ever forget this song, not after playing it so many times, not after it saved so many lives -- not since it has to save so many lives.]

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki was drawn by the music and stood listening while the tune repeated itself over and over again. He didn't want to interrupt so he just stood and watched, pausing in the hallway to listen.

After the same tune had been repeated many times he stepped closer] Hello?

[childhero]

[Link opens his eyes to see who it is, because he doesn't recognize the voice, but he doesn't stop playing. No... This person isn't one he recognizes. They must've come out of curiousity.

Well, Link is looking at you, which is the most acknowledgement he can give when he's still playing the song.]

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki didn't want to be rude and interrupt more than he already had so he just stood silently, watching and listening waiting for the song to end.]

[childhero]

[The current loop ends, but another one begins. It doesn't seem like he's going to stop unless he's made to.]

[attheclocktower]

[Cold nonwithstanding, Xion does need to eat sometime, which is what brings her - slowly, painstakingly, given that the sun has not risen and the power isn't working and there's still a blizzard raging outside and she was hard put not to come down wrapped in blankets again - down to the first floor.

And it's there that she hears the music. It's short, and simple, but she hasn't heard much music before so to her it's something new and fascinating.

She glances around the room, spotting someone familiar. One of the people whom she'd met, when she'd first gotten here. Ends up sitting nearby, just listening as he plays. Eventually, she says quietly, whenever he pauses for breath...]

It's very pretty.

[childhero]

[... she timed that on purpose. Link opens his eyes. He hadn't noticed her, he thinks, but he hadn't noticed anyone if they hadn't spoken up. Xion...

He doesn't know what to say, and he considers continuing playing without replying. But Xion is nice, so he can at least say this before he starts again,] Thanks.

[sageprincess]

[Oh, dear Hero, she's been worried about you.

The princess waits and listens for a moment, trying to discern why the boy is playing the song she taught him so religiously. But... she can't, obviously. And so her worries grow even more.

Eventually, she speaks up, concern evident in her voice.]

... Link?

[childhero]

[Princess Zelda.

Link lowers the ocarina and looks up at her.]

Princess...

[sageprincess]

[It would be presumptuous, she believes, to ask him what's wrong simply because he was playing that song over and over (though it does concern her), so she goes for a roundabout way of voicing her apprehension.]

... I have not seen you in some time. Are you all right?