Terminan Journal: Entry #1

It was a dark, misty evening when all of this started. I thought this journey would be relatively trouble free, but it only took a couple days in for that hope to be dashed. My memories of the beginning are a little fuzzy, for reasons that will soon become apparent, but I will retell these events as best as I can.

Epona and I were making our way through a distant forest when something jumped out and spooked her. She bucked in surprised, throwing me off of her back. It took me a minute to collect myself, and when I came to, I saw a masked Skull Kid playing with my ocarina. I tried to catch him and retrieve the Ocarina of Time, but he was too fast for me. He leapt onto Epona's back and they galloped away, with the Skull Kid's two fairy companions following closely behind. I ran after them as fast as I could. I had already lost one close friend, and I was not about to lose another. My legs ached, and I was already in need of sleep, but I forced myself onward. I climbed tree stumps and jumped across gaps without even thinking about it.

The trail eventually lead into a large, hollow tree. I blindly ran in, determined to catch up to the already invisible thieves. If I was less tired and desperate, I probably would have noticed the large hole long before I fell into it.

I fell for a long time. The rushing wind and feeling of weightlessness began to play with my exhausted mind. Meaningless symbols of every color swirled in the darkness before me. I was so disoriented I didn't even feel myself land.

I was in a large cavern, lit by two distant torches and an unseen source of light from high above. A large flower growing out of a shallow pool of water broke my fall. And off in the distance, floating effortlessly in the air, was the Skull Kid. Epona was nowhere to be seen. But something was odd about the Skull Kid now. The sense of mischief present in all Skull Children was completely gone. As he taunted me, all I felt was a sense of dread and malice. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. I wanted to scream, but my air was gone. All I could think about was hiding, maybe in this large flower below my feet...

The Skull Kid must have picked up on this. Because right at that moment, he began to do... something. I felt a strong power emanating from him, and then... black. I was once again in total darkness. Only this time, I was surrounded by Deku Scrubs! I tried to run, but my feet found no traction, and the Scrubs caught me.

I found myself in the same cavern again, only this time, I felt... off. And when I caught my reflection in the water, I finally found the air to scream. My skin had become a hard, yet pliable kind of wood. My blue eyes were replaced with a strange yellow glow. My mouth was now nothing more than a large snout.

I had been transformed into a Deku Scrub. And as I screamed with my new, shrill voice, the Skull Kid laughed. He eventually began taunting me yet again, but I couldn't even listen to him. I rushed at him, but I was stopped by one of his fairy companions. The Skull Kid managed to escape while the bright white fairy distracted me, but neither fairy noticed what was happening in all the confusion, and they became separated.

The white fairy, who calls herself Tatl, blamed me for this, and demanded that I help her reunite with the dark-glowing fairy, who was her brother, Tael. It didn't matter what my feelings on the matter were. I know first-hand just how stubborn fairies can be, so I knew she'd be coming with me whether I liked it or not.

We proceeded through the path onward and eventually came to another large cavern. I learned that my new Deku body could burrow into the large flowers I had seen around the caves, and I could even use their petals to glide through the air. I used this ability to cross a large chasm, where Tatl found a rather disturbing sight.

It looked like a tree, but with an exceedingly depressed face of sorts. Tatl remarked that it looked a lot like my new Deku body. I don't know why, but looking at that tree almost made me break into tears.

I pushed onward until I found myself in an oddly shaped corridor. The ground was uneven, and the walls played tricks with my eyes. It felt like the room was swirling around me as I proceeded through it, until I finally reached the end. As I passed through the final doorway, it sealed itself shut behind me.

I looked around this strange new place I had found myself in. It seemed to be a large clock tower of sorts. I climbed the ramps before me and eventually found the exit, but before I could leave I was stopped by a strange laugh...

I spun around and found an odd man. He carried on his back a large sack with masks hanging off of its sides. He told me he was a mask salesman, and that he had been following me for some time. He knew of the Skull Kid, he knew that I had been transformed, and most importantly, he knew how to return me to my true body. All that was needed was my stolen ocarina. But he also had a request of me: The mask that the Skull Kid wore belonged to him, and he wanted me to retrieve it for him. And in return, he would heal me.

Having no better option, I agreed to this deal, and Tatl and I made to leave the tower, having no idea what kind of journey awaited us...