Make sure to check footnotes for something I changed in the chapter for story purposes!

I hope you enjoy the chapter, even in it's clunkiness!

Chp 5- Time for More Time

It felt like they had been walking for an eternity, the twists and turns making it seem like they were hopelessly traveling in circles. They had had to dispatch a few sentient plants, and a bunch of Mad Scrubs on the way as well, only making the trip seem longer. Masks said he knew where they were, but it didn't look like they actually had a destination in sight.

The sounds of the forest, while pleasant and welcoming at first, had taken a turn for the worst. Creaks from the trees, the rustling of the leaves, and various other noises from a plethora of animals and monsters trilled in the forest's shaded light. They morphed into a cacophony that sounded mysterious and dangerous. Red thought something was going to bust out of the trees at any minute to ambush the 7 of them...again. Of course, his imagination was far worse than what had already lept at them, but it still wasn't a fun thought to consistently have.

Worry trickled through the group, despite Masks' insistent affirmations that they were all going to be fine.

Red really didn't know if he could believe that they were going to be fine, so he tried his best to keep close to the heart of the group. However, he also couldn't help himself to not ask if Masks really knew what he was doing leading them through the mysterious woods. "Masks…do you really know if this is the right path?"

The young Hero of Time continued forward, rounding a turn without slowing down. He glanced over his shoulder at Red and then looked ahead again. "Yup. Red, I know these woods very well. Well enough to not get totally lost at least...but sometimes it can't be helped. This is the "Lost Woods after all." He shrugged and continued walking forward without faltering. After a few more moments of silent walking, he slowed to a halt and pointed upwards. They had rounded another turn into a more open area with a wooden bridge leading a higher level of the forest ground to an archway made of a giant fallen tree. "Aha, see I knew it, we're almost there. Once we get up there on the bridge we...well I'll figure it out." He seemed happy...but it fell as quickly as it came.

Masks sank to the ground for a rest, giving the cue that they had a minute before continuing to their apparent destination which was now in sight. Vio chose instead to readjust his pouch on his belt. "Hmm, Masks, why exactly is it that you know the area so well?" His hand moved from his bag to rest on his hip as his inquiry continued, "I thought this was supposed to be one of those 'new location' things the other two mentioned earlier?" He made air quotes with his free right hand to further his point, which only made Masks roll his eyes.

All three of the 'Links' that the Four Sword Heroes encountered not long before had mentioned a place called 'Termina', and Tiny and Dusk had spoken of meeting Masks there by similar means that he and his brothers had. By just...coming upon it suddenly. Granted, they most likely hadn't been influenced by shadows that made them hostile and instead met in a more sociable manner than the four had...Vio cringed at that and let his hands fall.

"Yeah, uh, don't worry about that, Vio. I'm not from Termina anyway, I'm from here, in these woods specifically. Well, technically not now here but...ah look okay it'll be easier to physically explain when I find who I'm looking for. Proof too, heh." Masks shrugged and turned his back to the group again to instead stare up at the canopy above. Vio took that as the best answer they were going to get and went to see what the growing commotion behind him was.

Taking advantage of the rest's time to...rest, Red nudged Tiny and pointed a finger to the closest corner of the enclosed area they found themselves in. There were two large stumps, one larger than the other, and they suspiciously stood alone waiting for someone or something to approach it. This got the attention of everyone who wasn't staring at the sky to glance over as well, all of them inching closer until they were surrounding the two large stumps.

After a couple of moments or so, Masks decided they had rested enough and stood to stretch his arms while finally looking away from the sky where his mind threatened to dissociate itself. He shoved the feeling away and looked to where he found everyone else staring at the two raised platforms. Masks padded through the grass a few steps until he was among the rest of the gawking boys and finally realized why they were so engrossed. Honestly, he should have figured it was going to happen, and it may prove useful for some extra information. He smiled.

The fast and lighthearted rings of a flute began to swirl around them. With the commotion of 'children' around in this part of the forest, there was no doubt of attracting a spirit. The music got louder and more playful, but still, there was no player in sight around the two stumps. Deciding that maybe this was new to some of them, Masks announced what was happening.

"A Skull Kid is playing their flute for us to join in."

Tiny raised a finger that came among a nervous expression. "Uh! Masks, I thought you said that Skull Kid was...bringing that freaky moon down to kill everyone, right? Why are you so calm?" Oh, a good point actually, he must not know that there was more than one of them in the world.

Masks chuckled and shrugged. "Ah, this is a different Skull Kid, Tiny. The one who wants to kill everyone is in Termina, not here in Hyrule, and I'm not quite so sure it's his fault anyway." He gestured to the woods around them. "Skull Kids are forest spirits, that's all. This one right here is an old friend of one of my best friends, so I've hung out with him several times in the past. He won't hurt us, he just really likes playing music here, and one other area deeper in the forest."

He was wondering, however, why the mischievous forest spirit had yet to appear, but his gaze soon traveled onto Dusk. The 18-year-old was standing the farthest from the stumps, but still close. Skull Kids loved other children, but hated adults...Dusk was the only one there who could be completely considered an adult. If he were being honest, Masks wished to move right on past and leave the Skull Kid alone, but due to dealing with them a lot in the past growing up in a forest village close to their home...they didn't like getting ignored when they wanted to play music for a group of children. The spirits weren't malevolent usually...but they could be if wronged in a certain way, and after the particular Skull Kid in Termina, he didn't want to risk it.

Masks scooted his way to Dusk's side and nudged his arm. Said teen stiffened and then relaxed as his gaze landed on the young Hero of Time. "Hey Dusk, you, uh, mind waiting by the other side of the clearing? The spirits here don't care much for adults..." The reaction Masks received was a disappointed demeanor that morphed into recognition when he was informed that the kid would not appear if he, in particular, was nearby. He nodded and walked backward until his back rested upon a rock ledge on the other side of the area. Masks sent him an apologetic thumbs-up and turned back to the stump.

Sure enough, a mischievous laugh replaced the faint music for a few moments, and in a swirl of leaves and grass, a small wooden child holding a flute appeared on top of the highest stump. His face was concealed by a mask; a playful looking skull one that allowed the glow of his orange eyes to shine through. He looked, for the most part, friendly. He stood there, holding his wooden flute up to his mouth underneath the mask expectantly while staring at no one particular member of the group.

Masks fumbled with his bag, delicately pulling out a bright blue ocarina. He brought it slowly up to his own mouth and gave the spirit an expecting glance. The Skull kid looked excited and hopped up and down alternating what foot he landed on. Immediately the spirit began playing a fast upbeat tune, Masks quickly joined into the melody perfectly as if they had practiced this before. Seeing as how he said he used to hang out with the Skull Kid and another friend of his, it made sense that they'd have played music together before.

The performance only lasted a couple of minutes, but it was a lovely display. Masks trailed off, and the Skull Kid followed suit, laughing merrily. The young Hero of Time slid his ocarina into the bag resting on his belt and flashed him a small smile. "Hey, I remember you!" The Spirit pointed a wooden finger in Masks' direction, "You're friends with that nice Kokiri girl who plays in the Forest Meadow! Wow, I thought the Kokiri were all in hiding, I haven't seen her, you or any of your kind in a long time since the monsters came back into the forest. I miss pulling pranks on you guys!" Despite the statements, the Skull Kid giggled and crouched down on the stump to better gaze down at his company. A couple of the other group's members, such as Blue, found the imp to be...off-putting and despite the happy music that had since subsided, kept their distance on edge.

Before delving into more important matters that might drive the spirit away, Masks started easy. "I see you're still wearing that skull mask I gave you, I'm glad you still like it so much!"

The Skull Kid nodded his head vigorously. "The other Skull Kids are so jealous of it, so I'm never taking it off!" He gestured off towards the distance and put his flute away into a bag that slung around his shoulders. He was preparing to head off when the kid was finished talking but stuck around until he did so. He had missed the nice Kokiri and her friend, it was fun to see one of them again and play music finally.

Masks chuckled back. "Of course," He leaned forward and raised a hand to cover one side of his face. It blocked off his voice towards the direction Dusk was standing off in the distance like he was telling a secret. "Say, Skull Kid, I got an important question to ask you."

He prefaced it as if it were important for only the Skull Kid, which worked perfectly as he looked interested enough to lift his mask up to show his face and nod. His beak clicked together. "Now, I know how much you hate adults," The Skull Kid let the mask lay over his face again and blew a raspberry with one of his hands in Dusk's general direction to prove his distaste. "but, did you happen to see if an adult that kinda looks like me, even wearing Kokiri clothes, went into the village today?" Now, this really confused the rest of the Link's gathered around the two...even Dusk's great hearing wasn't enough to catch the conversation, even if he weren't so busy taking in the area beside the Skull Kid's section.

The Skull Kid stood upright and pointed to the village entrance. "Oh, that guy. I was watching him, I think I saw him go there...today!" He laughed again and disappeared in a blink of an eye, spooking Red in particular so bad he fell over. "Let's play music again soon, little Kokiri!" The presence of the forest spirit ebbed away with the final message.

Concluding that strange interaction, the 6 younger boys regrouped with Dusk on the far edge of the clearing. That's where they were heading anyway, access to the bridge above was waiting for them with a ladder and a small gap to jump across. It was easy enough to get all of them up and on top of the bridge, leaving the last leg of the journey to enter the long enormous log into wherever Masks was leading them. He hadn't exactly given a concrete answer yet.

Halfway through the dark entranceway, careless meandering turned to hushed and crouched steps until Masks stopped and blindly faced the rest of them who had barely stopped before teetering into him. He started with a whisper, "Alright, we're entering the Kokiri Village now. I want you guys to lay low, the Kokiri don't get many...visitors. And lately hasn't been a very good time for them at all, so just...follow behind me quietly. I doubt any of you would want to just wait for me to go in and get out, so this is the best we're gonna get, I guess." He audibly sighed and began to lead them forward again, keeping a few feet between him and Vio, Red, and Green. Tiny, Blue, and Dusk were just behind them stepping softly. Well, Blue wasn't stepping very softly, but it didn't matter much since it would be very hard to not spot a group of 7 interesting people walking into a quiet and recovering village.

"Hey...before we get in the open, I keep hearing the word 'Kokiri' thrown around, what are they? And didn't that...Skull Kid call you one?" Green questioned in a hushed voice, squinting from the light that was now permeating the tunnel. They were almost in the village it would seem. "I'm assuming they're all friendly, right?" As friendly as the Skull Kid was at least, Green reasoned. He knew he wasn't the only one curious, but no one else seemed bothered enough to add on. If he were being honest, it seemed, especially for his three brothers, that they were all putting a whole lot of faith into someone they had just met within the past day and a half or so.

Instead of answering properly, Masks made a frantic shushing sound and cautiously stepped into the light. It...didn't last very long before he was halted by something, however. Or rather, someone. It was hard to tell because it was so fast that the rest of the Links hadn't even made it out of the tunnel yet. Quite frankly, they could only verifiably make out what their companion was saying as the other person was too muffled in their hushed argument. The only thing they had heard correctly was the initial unhappy shout of Mask's real name. The stranger definitely didn't sound happy.

Masks groaned, and then continued. "uh, h-hey Mido! What? Yes, I know you're mad at me for leaving for so long. I'll agree, 7 years is a bit much, and- hey, hey, yes I know that there's an adult that keeps walking around here saying he's me. Well, yeah okay I see why you wouldn't believe that now with me in front of you. Mido please- will you listen just for one second? I promise I'll tell the truth." From what they could hear, it seemed rather one-sided.

"Look...Mido, that adult that keeps coming around here, is who he says he is. He's me. I know that sounds stupid, and yes it kind of is stupid. But, I promise." He paused for a moment, clearly figuring out the best way to continue. "Proof? I might just have some actually. Well, for starters uh, time travel probably. But besides that I…well he went into the Forest Temple recently with you to clear out the monsters and make sure Saria was safe and could fulfill her job as a sage. Right? Then he made sure to clear all of the monsters out of the immediate area if I'm not mistaken. So you and the rest of the Kokiri could come out of hiding." Masks chuckled, presumably at 'Mido's' reaction, and for what he was about to do. "Oh. Unfortunately, there's this other thing..."

Masks spun on the spot and urged the rest of the startled group of Links forward into the light. Stepping out of the tunnel and turning to where the two stood, they came to realize Mido was just another kid with a fairy fluttering close behind him. A kid they just spooked the daylights out of. Tiny waved at the other kid for a lack of a better reaction. Blue slammed his palm into his forehead, Dusk shrugged, Red was staring past the kid at the rest of the near-empty village, and Green and Vio were simply at a loss so they just smiled at him.

Mido waved back at Tiny slowly, his face morphing from surprised to slack. His mouth was a firm line, and he spun on Masks again with squared up arms. "Link! What the Hell is this?" He gestured wildly at the 6 newcomers. Pulling 6 people out of nowhere was strange enough, but they all...seemed way too familiar to him. However, surprisingly, they all weren't as familiar as the adult that kept walking around, but he didn't know whether to be relieved or upset. He growled, "Have you got scrubs in your brain or something?"

Masks hesitated before shaking his head and then shrugging in response to that particular acquisition, but Dusk couldn't help himself from snorting laughter at that. He didn't even spare the Hero of Twilight a glance at his amusement, but instead pointed at his house a bit down the main path of the village while looking at Mido. "I'm assuming he's in my house, right? I promise we'll leave as soon as we grab him. And for the record, these guys aren't me, so you don't need to worry about that, they're kind of just with me right now..."

He paused and ruffled through his bag until he retrieved a small brown object he held with care. He outstretched it to the other kid, who flinched and then looked dumbstruck yet again. "oh, actually, Mido, for the trouble, I have something to give you. You can have Saria's ocarina she made using the Great Deku Tree's bark...so you can talk with her while she's off doing Sage stuff. I...have another way of talking to her anyway. It's the least I can do, for the trouble I caused. Just take it."

Mido hesitated, about to grab it. His fairy whispered something in one of his ears and his expression softened. He looked about ready to say something, but he instead huffed and turned around. Mido began storming away down the main path, "Whatever weirdo, just go do what you're gonna do. Never been able to stop you from doing stupid stuff before." He disappeared into one of the homes carved out of giant tree stumps, leaving everyone else staring after him.

"Huh, he took that well. Now, where were we?" Masks began leading the way slowly, but the air was palpable and stiff around the 7 of them. Thankfully this was alleviated by a much-needed acquisition.

"Hey, Masks? The Hell was that about?" Blue asked, his voice drawn out. "The guy we're looking for is...you?" He wasn't so sure how much he believed that, but given the circumstance, he didn't have much of an argument...he just hoped that they didn't come upon the possibility of running into another set of the four of them. Four was enough.

Masks pointed to the house they were heading towards. A raised treehouse, the house's interior being carved into the tree itself, and blocking the entrance was a brown sheet of cloth. "Well, Dusk here would know this, at least, but I've had to deal with time travel...a lot. During my first...journey I had to leave my home here in the forest so that I could get the Master Sword and stop...evil, you know that spiel." The young Hero of Time stopped at the ladder leading up to his house and turned around to face the group with a sigh.

He continued in a hushed voice, "But, the sword didn't particularly like that I was only 13, or that the world wasn't damaged enough or whatever...so it literally had me sealed up in the Sacred Realm for 7 years until I was quote on quote 'ready'." He shrugged, "Slept through the whole thing really, so I was very suddenly thrown into a world 7 years past Ganondorf's takeover, and an adult. That freaked me out more than anything, I thought I was a Kokiri like everyone else in the village...forest spirits blessed by the Deku Tree who don't really age. Not like anyone told me otherwise,"

He chuckled softly and waved off the concerned glances he was getting from his companions. "Look, it's fine, obviously I got sent back to my childhood, I'm 14, not 20 if you didn't notice. But anyway, no the reason why I know I…he's gotta be here is that I came by my house several times in the future and stuff, and everything around is nearly identical to that time, not before I got the sword. With everything going on now at least, I figured something more was up than my brand of time travel."

It was quiet for a few moments as Masks turned back to looking at the balcony above. Tiny couldn't help but break it, "what...what about Termina then?" He was also glancing at the balcony, staring at the faint blue glow flickering through the cracks in the cloth doorway.

Dusk shoved Tiny's shoulder a bit, and quietly scolded him on how what he asked was rude, especially considering the timing. Tiny ignored him, still glancing up at the house. It was nicely carved, and rather large...for him maybe, but for someone of say Dusk's size it would be a bit cramped. Masks clicked his tongue before answering but he did start climbing the ladder with a hand gesture that stopped the rest from doing so as well. Not like they would all fit up there anyway.

"After getting sent back to the time before I got the Master Sword, I went looking for a friend I lost. Ended up getting tricked into falling into Termina because a certain Skull Kid thought it would be fun to steal my horse." He cleared his throat softly and leaned his head over the railing as he got to the top of the ladder. "Speaking of my friend," He began quietly calling for someone who was in the house presumably with the other version of Masks. "Navi! Psst, hey Navi come out here please!"

After a short moment, a small trill of a bell rang and slowly a small blue light fluttered out of the doorway a bit disoriented. A fairy. She glanced around the balcony, before looking down and spotting Masks at the edge of the ladder. The fairy seemed to shrug and began to head back into the house before she stopped midair and rapidly flew into Masks' face where she moved in a small circle.

"Hey! Link?" She trilled, "I thought...you were in the house...and- wait you're a kid!" Navi huffed and landed on Masks' shoulder for a moment to calm herself. Very suddenly, however, when Masks went to placate her, she sprung up and fluttered up and down. "The Deku Tree couldn't have lied to me, right? I'm supposed to guide…" She began to sink in the air for a moment before whizzing around to head back into the humble home.

"Wait, Navi! It's nice to see you again, but don't worry, you're still in the future! I'm…" It wasn't meant to be, for Navi peaked over the edge of the treehouse when a different voice called up to the two of them.

It was Red. "The friend you were looking for is a fairy?" He didn't sound incredulous, he sounded excited. Surely a factor into that was the number of faries fluttering around the village after Kokiri he saw from a distant, and the fairy that had hung around that Mido kid.

Navi sighed, counting the number of boys at the foot of the ladder under her breath. Masks gave her a shrug. "I'm going to go get...him out here, this looks too important." Navi stated confidently, before disappearing quickly into the house. Masks jumped down the ladder again landing in front of the group that was being oddly patient with his leadership. He'd apologize to them later when they got out of the woods.

It wasn't long before Navi fluttered out of the house again and into the open air above the 7 boys in waiting. A new larger figure atop the balcony shifted until a head poked over the railing. A very curious adult stared down at his new company, blinked a few times, and retracted his head. Mere moments later he slid down the ladder and stared once again at the newcomers. He spared a glance at Navi, who only shrugged in return, causing him to sigh. The adult raised a finger but could only manage to say, "What?" his eyes particularly caught on Masks. He had a feeling at least, the little rest he had been taking would be his last for a little while, this wasn't what he expected to run into, and he supposed Navi rushing him out of his house was fitting.

"You know," Blue broke the silence with a flippant wave of his hand, looking bored. "I at least thought he'd have that green scarf too if he's supposed to be you, Masks." The older Hero of Time lowered his finger and stared at the kid in blue, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck and noticing his lack of scarf. Vio again punched Blue in the arm for being so upfront, who only growled in response.

The adult found his gaze shifting back to the kid who did have a large green scarf, Masks. That...was him before he grew up…? Standing right in front of him with an entourage of similar personnel he didn't think he knew.

He supposed he'd just get it out there and pointed a lame finger limply at him. "You're...me, right? I didn't think time travel was...supposed to work like that."

Thanks for reading!

1- I know that in the Lost Woods the stumps that Skull Kid plays his flute on is not in the same clearing as the bridge, but it is not far from it. The reason for it was for both convenience and for a better flow for the story. Since this is the Adult portion of Ocarina of Time there is a man that usually sits by the stumps that the Skull Kid ignores...? So I just kinda removed him. It would have been harder to explain why he was there, and it wasn't important.