The Videogamer's New Life

Chapter 1, "Look Ma'! I'm a video game!"

Now, how to begin my story? "Once upon a time..." No, no, way too Brothers Grimm. "I was once..." No, too much like how all my stories start. Hmm, how about, "There was a time, once, when I wasn't a Hylian." Hmm, I like that.

There was a time, once, when I wasn't a Hylian. I was originally a Californian; just your average, everyday, normal human being. Not a hero. I was born Lucile Spellman, your typical, everyday child. No powers, no swordsmanship, no Fairy Bow, no Silver Gauntlets.

I was just a video game fanatic.

But one day all that changed, and my whole world was turned upside down.

I'd been playing The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and I was just about to beat the game. Screen went white to go to the credits, before I beat it, and without any prior warning, my whole body went numb and I was unable to move, the most I could do was blink and breathe. The feeling was absolutely terrifying.

The white on the screen pulsed, and grew in small, steady increments, and eventually enveloped the room, taking everything I knew away. Soon the white excruciatingly slowly faded to black.

After what could have been hours, minutes, or seconds, but felt like eternities, the figure of a man came out of the darkness. He had red, balding hair, a green pallor to his skin, yellow eyes, and an evil aura about him. I held him in the same regard with serial killers and homicidal rapists, not that I could remember why; after a while of standing in front of me, staring menacingly down at me, he faded, laughing disturbingly.

I couldn't remember his name. I knew he was evil, but only because of a feeling in the pit of my stomach, as if I knew him from another life. Now, I know that some people are psychic, and I'm one of them; however, I'm not that psychic. At least, not psychic enough to have comprehensible visions.

I began to know the names of all the enemies: Tektites (red and blue), Re-Deads, Guays, Keese, Skulltullas, Dodongos, Beamos, Wolfos, Gibdos, Wallmasters, Floormasters, Moblins, Like-Likes, Leevers, Bubbles (blue, green, red, and white), Peahats, Poes, Mad Shrubs, Deku Shrubs, Business Shrubs, Iron Knuckles, Stallfos, Stallchilds, (or are they Stallchildren?) Anubises, Armos, Bari, Biri, Dekubabas, etc. As I began to know them, I began to know how to beat them, each in their own turn.

I didn't remember learning any of this, but I knew it anyway.

While in the darkness, I got to thinking.

"What's going to happen to me? How long will this last? What am I doing?" All of this worsened my panic.

The darkness seemed to extend infinitely, or it could have been right in front of my face, blocking my view of whatever outside world could have existed. Time was pulled to a near stop; each second felt like an eon, ticking by slowly, or not ticking by at all. There was a force that I couldn't see making it so I still couldn't move. I was still able to breathe, but even that was an effort. After, I estimated about another hour, my face began to tingle, my ears felt like they were being stretched beyond their limits. It was agonizing, but I couldn't touch them to soothe them. My body felt like it was being more and more compressed, another agonizing sensation. I fell over onto my face, writhing in pain, still unable to move. Forever I lay there, crying in agony. Eventually, I think the Goddess of sleep took mercy on me and temporarily covered me in her sweet blanket of balm that eased my pain.

When I awoke, I was on my back, and I could see light. After my long bout in the darkness, the light was a beautiful agony, allowing me to feel both its healing effects, and the burn of spending far too long basking in its glow. This mixture of pleasure and pain was soon interrupted by a rather annoying wake-up call. Someone or something was repeatedly poking me in the face.

"Stoppit..! I don't wanna wake up," I mumbled in a raspy voice, attempting to roll over.

"Hey, she's alive!" said a whiskey, soft, rather pleasant-sounding, young man's voice.

"Yes, Link, she's alive. She was breathing when you were poking her," A trenchant fairy's voice replied.

I still had my eyes shut; the light pierced them. Eventually I worked up the gumption to open them. They stung for a second, but only that second. Once my eyes had adjusted, I noticed the young man was standing over me.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

He was no more than ten; he was wearing a green tunic, brown and yellow leather boots, a wooden shield, and an eleven-inch sword on his back. He had a backpack on under the shield, which made him look kind of funny. He had pointed ears, blue eyes, and a soft expression on his rather cute face. I thought he was cute, but it was possible that the darkness rattled my brains a bit.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, holding out his hand

I took it, and he helped me stand up.

After a few seconds' hesitation, I replied "Yeah, but I've got a migraine."

I looked around me; I was in a forest of some kind. It was very green, and there was rather annoying music playing somewhere in the distance. It began with three notes, repeated them twice, and then went into a full song. I thought I recognized it, but I wasn't sure why or from where.

"Where am I?" I asked, looking at the blond young man.

"You're in the Lost Woods," replied the fairy.

I turned my gaze to her; she was a little ball of blue light with wings, and she was following the young man who, I guessed, was Link.

"What's your name? I'm Link," said Link "And this is Navi." He gestured to the ball of light.

Well, this was not good. I wasn't Hylian and I didn't have a Hylian name. I figured I had to come up with one as quickly as I could. I could feel a name nagging at the back of my mind. "Hylia" the name sounded like, and the picture of a lake popped into my head, so I took Hylia as my nom de plume, thinking I would take it from the lake I knew was not too far off, to revere it in a way.

"I'm Hylia, and... what am I doing here? I - can't remember much,"

My voice, I noticed after clearing my throat, was a little high, and it sounded like a kid's voice. A kid no older than... well, ten. I measured myself up to Link, I was about the same height, so I estimated my age to be about the same as his. I guessed that made me ten. Resting my left hand on my right arm, I took notice that it was wet and warm and sticky...

"You're bleeding!" cried the fairy, Navi, indicating my arm

I looked down at my arm, and sure enough, I was.

"Oh, will you look at that," I said, rubbing the blood off on my own tunic... No... dress.

There was a Hylian-lettering number 10 cut into the flesh on my arm, and it was bleeding profusely.

"Are you all right?" Link gasped, his eyes locked onto the blood covering my right arm.

"Yeah," I replied, pointing to the blood "I did this years ago. I wonder how it started bleeding again..? I ran into a barbed-wire fence a long time ago, and now look at it."

In fact, I'd been riding a horse, something spooked it, and it bucked me off onto the barbed wire fence. The worst of my injuries had been my right arm and my left hand, which I wasn't completely able to clench into a fist any more. My arm had healed just fine, despite the deep gash. But here it was again...

I examined the rest of my body, looking for something to maybe make a tourniquet with; I was wearing a green tube-top dress, not much help there; brown and yellow leather boots, just like Link, so no help there either; and not much else. Fat lot of good that did me. I examined my hair, it was long and blond, in a ponytail covered by a green handkerchief. That would do quite nicely, so I took that off and wrapped it around my arm and tightened it with my teeth, making a double knot to hold it on.

All this time, Link was watching me with a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment. His blue eyes shone with the sparkle of an ever information-hungry mind and an insatiable curiosity.

"Where did you come from?" Link asked me during my long full-body examination.

"I can't really remember, I think I bumped my head. How did I get here?"

He thought for a moment and shrugged. He tried to speak, but closed his mouth. He tried again, and repeated the former motion. It seemed a cycle as he repeated the motions again and again.

"I don't really know," He finally explained, "You see, I tripped over you."

That would explain the bruise on my left arm, then. I hoped to God that he didn't break it; I needed my left arm, despite my malfunctioning left hand.

"So, are you going anywhere? I need to get out of here," I said to change the subject and get my mind off my arms, "I have nothing to do here; I still don't even know where I am. I don't know how to get home, after all. Besides that, I don't feel like returning to my empty home."

He put his hand on his chin and began to think. I could almost see a wheel spinning rapidly in his head. I turned my head to giggle at his expense, when Navi piped up with "We were going to Death Mountain see the Gorons; we need the Spiritual Stone of Fire."

"Let me guess," I said, "The Big Brother of the Gorons has the Goron's Ruby, and you can't get it without giving them something."

"Oh, yeah. How did you know that?"

I giggled a little bit and faced him; his smile lit up his whole face.

"I did the math," I said, using air quotes and shrugging, "and that aside, he's the sworn brother of my uncle."

Link looked at me, contemplating what I'd said. I guessed that he'd never heard that phrase before.I rolled my eyes, and waited for link's reply.

"I thought about it," I finally clarified after a long pause, "Since he *is* the sworn brother of my uncle."

"Oh."

If I knew if Navi had eyes to roll, I'm sure she did.

"So," I said, "You're going to Death Mountain. That's near Kakariko, and I have some things I need to get there. Would you mind if I came with you? I'd love to go see it."

Link thought for a moment. His eyes shifted around the woods nervously; his hand rested on his chin, then his hip, then his chin again. He rubbed the back of his head, then glanced around the woods one more time.

"Do you have any form of weapon?" He finally asked, after what looked like painful deliberation.

"Not really. The last thing I remember," I said, then I had another thought,"Oh! I remember! I was down by the lake side, talking to the Scientist!"

Okay, I fibbed.

"You might need one," Navi said, "Link, why don't you loan her your slingshot?"

Link turned and dug in his pack for his slingshot for a few seconds. He handed it to me, along with a bag capable of holding 40 Deku seeds that can be used as bullets, but where was I supposed to put it? If I put it on my belt, I would surely break it, and I would get tired of carrying them...

As I thought this, I noticed a sudden weight on my back, and felt straps appear on my shoulders. I touched them, and realized I had a knapsack. I put the pouch of bullets in my knapsack, but not before I took five out and shot them at a tree. Four perfect bull's eyes in an abandoned owl's nest, and one near miss that ricocheted off and hit me in the face.

"OWH!" I cried, rubbing my lip where the bullet had hit.

Link fell over laughing. This didn't please me in the slightest, so I grabbed the seed off the ground and shot him with it. He wasn't laughing much longer. After I'd taken my turn laughing, we struck a deal; he agreed to take me along as long as I didn't shoot him. I agreed, as long as he didn't laugh at my pain. Agreeing to my terms, Link lead me out of the forest. He stopped a few times to get his bearings, to rub his sore back, and to ask me a few questions about myself. I said I was Zelda's cousin, and lived just outside Hyrule Castle Towne alone in a shack.I also said that my parents lived in the castle as a maid and a waiter so they wouldn't have to find a way to live on their own. I joked that my mom was the waiter and my dad was the maid, but the joke went over Link's head with a whooshing noise. Oh well, it wasn't that great a joke anyway.

I said that I hadn't wanted to work in the castle, so went to live on my own, I had run out of money on the way to Lake Hylia by taking a detour and buying Lon-Lon Milk. I was kind of out of luck when it came to the bottle; I had dropped it in the lake, and would've retrieved it, but I can't dive that deep underwater.

When we were out of the woods, and down a rather steeply sloping hill, we were in Kokiri Forest. We were surrounded by hollowed-out trees that the Kokiri used as houses. I was a little surprised and awed at the craftsmanship of the dead trees, and I wondered how small children such as the Kokiri could have possibly made them. The detail on the roofs, the well-formed doorways, and even the gardens on the sides of the houses. One big house nearest the hill had a rock garden. I was going to guess that the person who lived in that house wasn't too kind a person to just have rocks...

A young lady distracted my train of thought by running up to us.

She greeted Link with a friendly warmth and a sparkle in her eyes.

Turning to me, said, "Oh, who are you? I haven't seen you around here before!"

I smiled politely.

"I'm kind of new here. I'm pretty lost. I have no idea, really, how I got into the woods or your forest in the first place," I replied.

She smiled back nervously.

"Where did you come from?" She asked.

"I'm from just outside Hyrule Castle Towne."

"I've never seen any lodging outside the town," Link said with a suspicious tone to his words, "Do you live in Lon-Lon Ranch?"

"No," I shook my head, "I live behind the Towne in a small shack. Sort of near the Castle, sort of near an alcove where the Great Faerie lives."

Link gave my words careful consideration, his blue eyes sparkling with interest.

"Where is Hyrule Castle Towne?" asked the girl, "I've never been beyond the forest."

I considered for a moment what I was going to say, "It's to the north of here. It's past Hyrule field."

She didn't get to say anything more, because Link was getting antsy. He cleared his throat and grabbed me by the arm. I tried to wiggle free of his grip, but he was too strong. Having no luck, I simply had to go with him.

"Come on Hylia! I thought you wanted to go to Kakariko." Link said.

I would have turned to walk, but Link had me firmly by the arm. I waved a semi-solemn goodbye, and tripped over a root. I rolled back onto my feet and turned to walk with Link through a tunnel.

"Do all Hylian girls talk so much? I thought you wanted to leave." He said, not bothering to look at me

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, give me a break, she started it!" I jokingly whined.

Link chuckled.

The tunnel ended and lead to a bridge. It was spanned between the tunnel we were in and another one on the opposite side of a small valley made by two raised cliffs. The trees were becoming fewer, and the leaves were changing color, so, I guessed it was either becoming late in the year or the trees lacked as much nutrients. We began to cross the bridge and my distraction became stronger. The bridge was made of hemp rope and what seemed to be driftwood, but it was stable enough to carry an adult.

Suddenly, searing pain ripped through arm, excruciating to my bruise and cut. Even through my handkerchief. I screamed in pain and Link turned so fast he made himself dizzy and stumbled.

"Are you okay?" Link nearly yelled with alarm, grabbing the railing.

I ripped off my handkerchief; blood pooled around in a big dent in my arm. I seemed to have a moment as I noticed that something was rolling about my feet. I picked up what looked like a giant walnut and recognized it as a Deku nut. It was round, with yellow protrusions on the sides, like little bumps all the way around it, nearly connected, so I threw it back to the direction it came from. Tying my handkerchief back on, I rubbed the painful spot on my arm.

"Shrub," Said I, quite simply.

"That dent looked pretty bad," Link replied, his voice filled with pure concern.

"I'm okay," I said, raising my hands to prove my point, "I've had worse. You should have seen what happened when I got caught in the fence."

This time, the nut hit me much harder. It collided with my side with such force it knocked me off the right side of the bridge.

"Holy..! HYLIA!" Link yelled.

He ran to the side of the bridge and grabbed the hemp rope, looking as though he were going to jump off.

Now, not only was my arm hurt, but I'd landed on my other side, and had the wind knocked out of me. This pissed me off. I yelled that the son of a bitch asked for it, and jumped to my feet. I ran in the direction the nuts were coming from, not really thinking. When I got there, I saw only plain of tall grass surrounding a bush. I turned to the bridge and gave Link a questioning glance. As I did so, I was hit in the back by another Deku nut. I fell on my face, and rolled out of the way. If this son of a bitch was willing to attack a girl with her back turned, what was to stop it from kicking me whilst I was down? I saw its smug grin as I guarded myself from another attack. It didn't have much in the way of a face, but it seemed smug anyway.

It spat yet another nut at me, but I kept my arms in front of my face. I felt a small crack in my left arm as the nut bounced off painfully, and hit the shrub. I heard Link hit the ground as he jumped off the bridge, and he ran to my side as fast as he could.

"Are you okay?" He panted.