The Song of Healing and Mask of the Black Truth
OoC: Oh man, I’m so nervous putting this up. It’s the first chapter of my first character fic. After the better part of a year, I’m finally going to be able to give my main man an upgrade. Soooo nervous.
BiC: Trees, trees, trees, trees. Trees taller than the mightiest of towers. Trees that rose up to block the sun. Trees that bore no fruit nor sprouted any leaves. Trees as far as the eye could see. Trees, trees, trees, trees. A never ending sea of trees. And fog as well. Fog that hid the vastness of these trees from the world. Fog that commanded “Stay out, there’s nothing for you here”. Silence. Not a living thing ventured these woods. Not a frog to croak, an insect to buzz, or a wolfos to howl. Not even a meager wind would play its airy tune. It was as if the forest, and all things within, were dead and passed.
There were few who knew of these dead woods, and fewer who had walked under them. For none who would record their existence had ever had call to enter. These were the woods that guided those who were searching, yet could not find what they were looking for. Any that had come through, came seeking some kind of treasure, though a treasure that could not be marked by a value. Once, a Hero searching for his companion, once, a boy searching for friendship, and once, a man searching for fulfillment to his purpose. These were the woods that guided those who were seeking something higher.
In centuries, not a single being had needed use of the passage. The woods remained empty, waiting for one that would accept its guidance. But no wait, save the wait for the end, is eternal.
Stirring little more than a single wisp of mist as it moved, a solitary Fairy ventured under the trees. No taller than the palm of a hand, its body was covered by a purple glow, letting only its wings show. While drifting slowly, it looked up to the tops of the trees, attempting to comprehend the absolute vastness of its surroundings. Without a destination or direction, it traveled deeper and deeper into the woods. Although, it too was searching for something. This was also something higher, something that would bring happiness not only to it, but to those it cared for.
Fluttering ahead, it came to a pair of massive stumps, those which must have once been the base of the truly mighty logs that lay beside them. At the base of one of those stumps, a passageway had been carved through. Having neither a care nor a fancy of where it went, the Fairy simply continued on its path, which took it straight through the passage. After heading through, it found itself at the base of another gargantuan tree, this one standing tall and healthy, growth sprouting from the ground beneath. Like the last, there was a passage through it, though a little higher off the ground. Flying over the stumps that rose to the tunnel’s entrance, the Fairy simply continued on through.
Now, it was inside the massive tree, a great shaft that both towered and sunk into darkness. But as soon as it flew into the center, its wings ceased to beat. Suddenly, it was falling down into the black void that lay below. From out of nowhere, neon lights, warped into strange designs, flew through its sight. Though the fall lasted only a few seconds, it felt somehow longer. As the bottom grew closer, the Fairy regained the feeling in its wings, though not in time to save itself. But as the ground came, so did a cushion. Upon landing, it found that it had fallen right on top of a squat, pink flower; a Deku Flower.
Shaking off the shock of the fall, it fluttered back into the air. Before it was a shallow pool of water. Looking in, the Fairy found its reflection strange. This was because the Fairy was not in its natural state. With a simple thought, it returned to what it had once been. Looking once again to the pool, it found a familiar face. Now it was a man that was reflected in the water. This man was the Fairy’s true form. It was a thin man that looked up from the water, not wide in chest or arm. Also, it was a pale man, one used to the darkness that surrounded him. Clothed in violet, he appeared to be exactly what he was.
Beyond the pool and flower, an empty room spread out before him. The only decorations were a pair of burnt out torches and a sturdy looking wooden door on the opposite end, appearing to be the only exit of the natural prison he was trapped in. With a slow pace, unfamiliar to his legs, he walked over to the door, trying to conjure up an explanation for his colorful descent. Pulling the door open, he took a final glance around the room. Such a strange place he had ended up, yet with a familiar energy flowing from all directions.
Letting the door fall shut behind him, he now found himself in a strange, wooden tunnel. Across the walls there were paintings of red flowers blooming from a green brush. Above, a jagged yellow stripe stretched along the ceiling. A tranquil, if not a little brief, picture of the sun giving it’s light to the growth. After no more than a few steps, the tunnel ended, coming out into another wide chamber. Ahead, there lay a ledge, the lower side of a pit that separated the entrance in the tunnel behind, and the exit door, the center of a large red design, across. At his feet, there was yet another Deku Flower, as well as few more below. Further below, there was a sign of civilization greater than the torches in the previous room; a circular stone flat.
Nothing was of great consequence though. Taking a few steps back, he cast himself with a superior leap, and dashed forward. With ease, he cleared the gap, and stepped through the door to the room beyond. What lie ahead came close to amazing the man. There was nothing, almost nothing. From out of an unreal blackness, the trunks of many sturdy trees rose, and then disappeared back into that blackness. Even the stumps that rose to form a bridge to the exit came from that deep darkness. It was like everything he saw was floating in an endless void, that, if he were to fall into, would carry him till he grew old and perished.
No sooner did his eyes send this sight to his brain, did he feel a strange emotion. It was something he was not used to feeling, an emotion that he, up till now, was successfully able to repress. It was fear. The mere thought of dropping into a void that seemed so endless, struck terror into every fiber of his being. All of a sudden, he felt his knees buckle, so he reached out his arms to catch himself before his face met with the dirt. It shook him. Through every bone, hair, and flake of skin, he was terrified. In his lifetime, there had been only one other thing that had instilled such fear in him, and he had long since found a way to avoid it. But this was all around him, unavoidable if he wished at all to escape.
Though his terror remained, he picked himself up, and once again set his eyes on the blackness. Thinking as clearly as he could, he took again his Fairy form. With a little flutter of his wings, he brought himself over the void to the first stump on the bridge. A little bit of confidence seeped into his system. He did likewise to the second, third, and large gap to the fourth, each time gaining a little more assurance in himself. Ahead now was a final small gap to the exit. With only a trace amount of fear in his heart, he cleared the gap and returned to his true form. Confidently, he walked through the tunnel before him.
His feet now took him through a fantastic hall. A ceiling covered with moss, columns that looked ready to crumble, and a small set of footprints would have made an ordinary room, but this was different. This hall twisted itself, turning the floor into the roof at the opposite end. Like a powerful glue was stuck to his feet, gravity held him down, even as he walked along the wall, and then the ceiling. Reaching the end, he took a look back, and thought about what he had just done. It was as if he were no longer in the realm of Hyrule, but someplace where the rules were different, someplace that could awaken his emotion, and defy the laws the Goddess of Wisdom, Nayru, had set in place.
Through with his melancholy thoughts, the man stepped through the exit way into the next chamber of mystery. Unfortunately for him, the moment he came in, a pair of heavy, metal shutters slid closed behind him. Quickly turning back, he examined the shutters, but found no way to open them back up. If he had not dedicated himself before, there was no choice now. Looking onward, he found himself in a particularly unpleasant setting. Stone walls and stone floors yielded mossy growth in every crevice. Ahead, a small stream flowed through, pushing a metal, moss covered water wheel. From the wheel housing, a wooden shaft extended up through a hole in the ceiling. Nearby, a ramp circled behind the housing, appearing to lead to a second floor.
With nowhere to go but forward, he walked up the ramp, and came out in the room above. From the center of the floor, the wooden shaft from below extended up to the ceiling. There, it punctured the center of a massive wooden cog, which the water wheel below was turning. Two more cogs on the sides were guided by the central one, clearly indicating that this was the base of some massive mechanism that was, of yet, unknown. Facing away from the fascinating structure above, the man turned his attention to the more important matter at hand. Across the room, a wooden door, painted in dull shades of red and green, stood as what could be his final exit.
Turning hopeful, he quickly walked over to the door, and climbed the first few steps leading up to it. But before he could come within arms reach, a voice called to him from behind. “You’ve met with an unpleasant fate, haven’t you?” it said out of nowhere. Snapping himself about, the man found who it was. Right where he had been just a second ago, there stood an odd looking person. His clothes seemed normal enough; a deep purple shirt and trousers beneath an unbuttoned purple jacket, decorated with a formal shoulder piece, but the way he presented himself was rather odd. He stood hunched over, his hands clasped together as if he were about to ask a favor. His ears told that he was Hylian, and his face, made up with an eerie grin, squinting eyes, and orange hair, told that he was not. On his back, he carried a huge pack, various masks hanging all over it.
“I own the Happy Mask Shop,” he continued before the one he was addressing could say a word, “I travel far and wide in search of masks. During my travels, I lost a very important mask, and saw it carried off by a stranger. So here I am at a loss… And now I’ve found you.
“Now don’t think me rude, but I have been following you. For I know of a way to let your family rest in peace. If you can get an item that will play music, I will give you that way. In exchange… All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the stranger took from me.”
The man who had arrived first opened his mouth to talk, but was cut off. “What? Is it not a simple task?” the person said, “Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task. Except… 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.
“But yes… You’ll be fine. I see you are young and have tremendous wisdom. I’m sure you’ll find it right away. Well then, I am counting on you…”
“I’m sorry sir,” the man answered curtly to the one sided conversation, “But could you start again, and this time tell me where I am.”
OoC: Alright, nice work. Yes, I know it’s exactly the same as the opening sequence from MM, that’s the way I planned it. I can assure you though, the remaining story will have very little to do with that game. Well, maybe more than that, but... Please, tell me what you think. This is my first fic, and if I’m no good at it, I need to know now, so I can stop. Thank you for reading. So very nervous.