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Seven Days Ago

Trevor woke up with sweat on his forehead. The cold droplets made him shiver. He was shirtless in bed–a normal habit for him during the late spring and early summer. A quiet stillness surrounded Trevor. His heartbeat drummed in the silence.All that happened must have been a dream; Earthquakes never happened in Illinois. No one ever through a big crack in the ground and lived. No one roamed through strange underground canyons and found themselves in a strange cave of secrets that were beyond belief. None of that could have been real and that was a relief.Trevor continued to lie on his back, staring at the darkness above. When he tried to sit up, pain tore into his torso. He groaned out loud, putting both hands on his belly. That was when he felt the bandages.Someone wrapped cloth around torso, from the waist up to his belly button. When Trevor took off his blanket, he felt how rough and coarse the gritty fabric was, like it had been around for many years and didn't have long before it unraveled into stringy pieces. As his eyes continued adjusting to the dark, Trevor noticed more differences; an unfamilar door stood several feet away his bed. The bed he sat in wasn't his own; something felt uncomfortable about it. The floor was made of dirt. Strange smells floated in the air.

This place wasn't Trevor's room...and Trevor had no idea where he was at this point.

Trevor sat up, gritting his teeth through the pain. This isn't real, this isn't real he thought to himself. Trevor blinked his eyes as if they were light switches. Each time he opened them, he hoped that his own room would appear, that the bad dream would finally go away.He wanted to see the Colts poster with Peyton Manning standing in the pocket. He longed for his dresser, which was decorated with stickers from his favorite TV shows and video games. Nothing came up. It was all still the same. The nightmare continued and decided Trevor had to stay.

When Trevor screamed, it must have lasted an hour. He barely noticed the scampering of feet from somewhere beyond the door.

When the door flung open, Trevor covered himself as if he could actually hide. He saw the shape of a young girl in a dress standing in the door frame before he covered his head.

He heard a frantic call–"Mother!" It was followed by more footsteps, steps that were stronger and brisk and somehow calm. Trevor clamped his mouth shut but gave one last shout when the blanket was pulled off.

"Child...child, please. Calm down, you're fine."

Trevor looked up at a woman who gazed at him. Her blonde hair was tied into a bun. She had grey eyes that somehow lit in the dark. Her smoky garb was a little more bleak than her stare and could've easily blended into the room's darkness.

She didn't appear menacing or unkind; like the footsteps from earlier, this woman looked like someone who knew how to handle every problem without ever panicking or being fearful.

Trevor's cries stopped. He took a deep breath, fought through the pain in his gut (the wound he had didn't help with things) and slouched. He didn't flinch when the woman placed a hand on the bare part of his back.

"We weren't sure if you'd awaken, child." The woman turned toward the door where the young girl still stood. "Gertrude. Boil some water for our guest. Don't take long."

"Yes, mother." The girl scampered off again with her footsteps becoming distant with each movement.

Trevor kept his eyes on his blanket. The rough material was a dull brown. A gritty texture persisted in his clutches.

"Where am I?" Trevor asked.

"You're in the town."

"The town...?"

"Castletown. In Hyrule."

"Hyrule...?"

"You're not from here?"

The woman sat on the bed and faced Trevor. She put her free hand on his brow while staring deeper into his eyes, as if she found something wrong with him.

"Maybe you're from Labrynna," she murmured, though that didn't help Trevor understand anything any better. She seemed to be talking to herself more than anyone. "Or Holodrum...but you don't seem to sound like it. Of course, you don't look too Hylian either. But you wouldn't find many of us outside of Hyrule."

"Why am I here?"

"My husband found you in the Zora River. You must have fallen in. He thought you were dead, child. He pulled you out to see to you getting a proper burial and all. A miracle happened then; you were breathing, even after being facedown in the waters. We've been praying all morning to the divine for you."

Trevor heard Getrude pattering back to the room. "Mother," said the girl. "The water's all bubbly and getting hot!"

Gertrude's mother looked over her shoulder at her daughter. "Turn the fire off, love." The mother offered Trevor a warm smile and cupped his face in her hands. "You're probably sick of water after whatever you went through, child...how did you get in there?"

Trevor's eyes welled up. "...I...I don't know. I want to go home."

Gertrude's mother shushed Trevor as tears streamed down his face. She thumbed the sadness away and gathered him into an embrace.

"You'll get home," she promised. "We have to find out what to do, but we'll get you home. Until then, you're not alone and we'll make sure it stays that way. Don't you cry now, love. Don't you cry..."

Trevor wasn't sure if he could believe the woman.

~*~

What Delilah told Trevor was true. Her husband, Lionel, was out on the Zora River in his raft, trying to collect fish to sell in the Market in Hyrule Castletown.

Everyone in the city spoke of a strange occurrence from the night before. Many shooting stars fell through the sky.

Most of them never even touched the world while other places seemed rattled by certain landings. Trevor didn't really know much more than what Lionel called 'odd rumors.'

"Everyone has fantasies and imaginings," Lionel said at the family's dining table. He was a hefty man with a brown goatee and gray clothes not unlike his wife and daughter's. The man seemed to take pride in bringing home what his family needed in order to live well and survive.

The dining table was covered in a variety of food-filled dishes. Greens, fruits and cooked fish were the meal for today. Everyone took a modest share. Gertrude scooped spoonfuls of food into Trevor's small pinewood bowl.

"No one ever knows the whole truth," Lionel continued. "It'd be good for us to see the truth for ourselves, right?" Lionel offered Trevor the same kind smirk his wife had earlier. "You're definitely real, aren't you?"

Trevor smiled back out of politeness. After all, Lionel seemed to save his life.

It was still hard to believe that he spent a long time unconscious in whatever river the family spoke of, although he shouldn't have been too surprised. Getrude, Lionel and Delilah's daughter, kept ranting about how she wasn't even allowed to dip a toe in the water because of how deep the river was.

The child insisted she could be around such places without much trouble, but her parents weren't willing to budge on the matter.

"It's just not fair," Gertrude muttered later on. She and Trevor were out in the town square, away from their "They always treat me like a child!"

"...But you are a child." Trevor pointed this out while staring out at the strange city before him. People clamored to wooden stands with different colored gems in their hands to purchase goods he probably never heard of.

"So are you," Gertrude snapped back with a glare in her eyes.

"Yeah...but I know I'm a kid."

"...Who asked you anyway...?"

Gertrude looked on at Castletown with Trevor. She truly did live here.

The girl spent the entire morning showing Trevor around after he rested for a couple days. Gertrude dragged Trevor through the city's back alleys, introduced her to a "shooting gallery" where people could hit different objects with slingshots and many different shops.

It became awkward when Gertrude stopped every brown haired or green-eyed adult and asked them if they were Trevor's parents. She'd do it obnoxiously as well, which made it all the more worse.

Gertrude grabbed Trevor by the hand, urged him toward the adult and loudly asked "Is this boy your child? My daddy pulled him out from the river!" She never failed in embarrassing Trevor. His face was still warm from all the blushing he did in response to Gertrude's bad detective work.

He wanted to cover her mouth sometimes and drag her away from everyone. He almost wanted to say he liked it in Hyrule just so Gertrude would stop.

"Do you see anyone in the square right now who could be it?" Gertrude asked. She pointed at a stout woman with brown hair who fawned over a small dog with stone-colored fur that pranced about on the cobblestone streets. "She looks like she could be it, don't you think?"

"I don't think it. I KNOW she's not my Mom."

"How do you know she's not your mum?"

"Because she doesn't look like her."

"...Maybe she got fat?"

"My mom didn't get fat. It's not her. OK?"

"Hmmm..." Gertrude found a bald man with a brown mustache. He donned a sleeveless vest and green pants. "How about him? That must be your papa."

"My dad has hair, it's turning white on the sides and he doesn't dress up like that. He doesn't have a mustache either."

"Well, how are we going to find your family?"

"Not by doing this." Trevor stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "I...I don't want to be here anymore. I'm going on a walk. Leave me alone."

Gertrude looked up at Trevor and looked like his words had hurt her. She even jutted out her lower lip and had to dab at her eyes with the back of one of her hands. Trevor started feeling bad.

"I'm just trying to help you," she said. "It's not right for people to not be home or without their family. It's just not right."

Trevor sighed. "I know. It's just...I know what my life is like. You don't. Please stop trying to think for me and let me think for myself. That's all I'm asking, OK?" Trevor realized he wasn't making things much better. "...Do you know a nice place for me to walk?"

Gertrude's eyes brightened up at the question. "Do you want to see Hyrule Castle?" she asked.

Trevor remembered Gertrude talking about it. It looked interesting from a distance, coming across as truly important as it seemed to oversee all the city atop a distant hill.

Trevor nodded and even turned in the direction he remembered Hyrule Castle being...and almost knocked another girl over as he started moving.

"What in the world–"

The girl went from alarmed to angry in a moment. She stumbled away from Trevor and tightened her hold on a snow-colored bundle she kept close to her chest. After she steadied herself and made sure the bundle was safe, she shot a dirty look in Trevor's direction. Her jaw clenched and she wagged a finger at him.

"Watch where you're going!" said the girl. "It's already bad enough I have to deal with my papa not being around and here you are trying to knock folks flat on their keisters! Use those green eyes of yours, buddy!"

Trevor was taken aback by the girl's country drawl. She had red hair that went down to right above her waist and biggest blue eyes that easily narrowed when she was angry.

Her white dress had peculiar blue patterns around the edges of her sleeves and along its bottom hemline. The girl's marigold scarf was pinned together with a pendant shaped like the face of a bizarre dragon-like creature with two bared fangs and twin horns atop its head.

"Sorry," Trevor said, feeling a worse pit in his stomach for looking more out of place than ever before.

"You should be." The red head turned her nose up in the air and stalked past Trevor and Gertrude. She and the carefully cradled bundle blended into the crowd.

Trevor wondered if what she held was a baby sister or brother. It would explain why she talked about a missing father.

"Everyone's looking for their mums and dads," said Gertrude as she took Trevor by the wrist and led him to Hyrule Castle. "You're not too alone after all, Trevor!"

~*~

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Hyrule Castle had four spired towers of different heights. Watchtowers surrounded them in the two front corners and probably the back as well. A blackgate, a set of stairs, a sizeable field with green grass, a paved dirt path and many guards in knight's armor stood between visitors and the estate itself. Trevor was glad to keep his distance and be unseen.

"Since we're just kids," said Gertrude. "We can stand and stare all we want. No one will think we're causing trouble if we don't go closer. The guards get really nasty if you try to come too close. They get mean and tell you off."

Trevor kept skimming through the castle's details. "Mm-hm."

"I heard a man tried to meet the princess but he got stuck in a drain that went out of the castle. The guards found him with his bum sticking out of the hole!"

"Oh."

"Yes...I heard they paddled his bum with the hilts of their spears and swords, just to teach him a lesson before kicking him out. He was one of the strange ones in town, he was. They knew he didn't mean any harm."

"Unlucky guy."

"...You don't seem to care all that much."

"I just want to go home."

Gertrude gave a pouty face. "Well, you said I can't do much about it. You might as well enjoy yourself and stay a while!"

"I really don't want to."

"You don't have a choice, I don't think."

"Oh, but he will."

Trevor and Gertrude both paused. They looked at each other as if they were waiting for the other person to say they were joking.

Trevor's fears started coming back to him and he started looking around for the source of the voice. The road back to Castletown was behind Trevor and Getrude. Before them was the castle. To their right was a hedge made from rocks and hardened soil. Vines climbed up some of the sides and even looked strong enough to hold a person. To their left was a gathering of lush trees bearing new fruit.

It was there that the two heard the voice. Gertrude cautiously crept towards the trees, but stopped when she realized Trevor wasn't moving.

"Aren't you going to try and stay by my side?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

"...Why don't you just check it out instead? I'll wait right here for you and hope for you to come back."

"You WILL come with me or I'll make sure you NEVER go back to wherever you came from!"

Trevor shrugged and went to Gertrude's side. Out of a need to feel brave, the two both held hands.

Trevor's nerves seemed to keep getting the best of him as they ventured into the trees. Soon, an entire grove of them surrounded the two. The road between the city and castle were just out of sight.

"Do you see anyone?" Gertrude whispered.

Trevor shook his head. "Maybe we imagined it."

"Two people cannot imagine the same thing. If we both heard it, it was real."

"None of this feels real."

"Then it would mean I'm not real."

"Then I guess you're not."

Before Gertrude could snap at Trevor again, the two heard a rustling from above. They stopped dead in their tracks and just stared out into the distance. Trevor's skin grew goosebumps. It felt like the person watching them was right there, ready to whisk them away. Trevor whirled around and saw nobody at all.

Soft hoots came down from one of the trees. Trevor looked up and saw a large owl staring at him and Getrude. The owl looked very odd with it's strange unibrow that stretched out like antenna and eyes not unlike the sky blue ones Trevor saw on the girl earlier. This bird's chest puffed out, covered in golden-brown feathers.

"Well," Trevor whispered. "We might be the first kids who have ever gone crazy out here."

"I wouldn't say that you've lost your sanity in the slightest."

Trevor wanted to disagree with the owl. He had to have been crazy. After all, Trevor knew owls don't speak yet here was a bird that moved its beak and let words out from its mouth. He had another scream in him, another frightened cry that both he and Getrude could have shared in having. Trevor chose to swallow the cry instead, just in case the owl had any ideas or in case it ended up that he was crazy and needed to think about where his mind was at.

"Wow," Trevor said. "I...I could have swore you talked to me."

"I did speak with you."

The owl fluttered its wing and floated down to the ground. When it landed, Trevor saw how large the creature was. It towered over both him and Gertrude, causing great alarm to them both. Gertrude came close to Trevor, hiding behind him as the owl gave them a once over.

"...P-Please don't eat us," Trevor's heart pounded.

"I have no interest in that. I'm far from a monster." The owl hopped around the children, keeping its eyes fixed on them...though Trevor felt the owl only focused on him alone. "You're definitely not from Hyrule, are you?" Trevor shook his head. "You hail from parts outside of here and even this world, yes?"

"I don't know," Trevor answered. "I guess?"

"You can't guess. You should simply know."

"How can I know when I'm not even sure of what I'm seeing?"

"That is a good question indeed. Have you considered actually looking through this place for yourself?"

"I guess not."

The owl hooted as if to give a laugh. Trevor even swore he saw a smile in the creature's face. "Then we see the problem, my boy. We can't have that, can we?"

The owl finally looked at Gertrude and Gertrude alone. "Young lass, what is your name?"

Gertrude breathed in a staggered way, like she just remembered how to. "Gertrude..."

"Beautiful name for a pretty child. Thank you for taking care of Trevor. It's greatly appreciated."

Gertrude's jaw dropped and Trevor felt his own mouth prying wide open. How did the owl know...?

"Are YOU Trevor's daddy?" Gertrude asked. "I didn't think his father would be an owl! Why didn't he recognize you?"

The owl definitely chuckled. Trevor heard a hearty laugh.

"I'm no father," said the owl. "And as you can see...we don't exactly resemble one another. But I do know of Trevor. I've had my eyes on him since the day he was born and he doesn't even know it."

"What?" Trevor found himself asking aloud. The owl looked at Trevor again. Trevor wished it hadn't.

"It is true," said the owl. "I'm Kaepora Gaebora and I am here to let you know that I can in fact take you home, or at least help you with the possible means. But the path paved before you is up for you to walk upon."

"None of this is real."

Trevor rubbed his face with both hands and even slapped himself. This is a dream, he thought, it's getting way too weird. An owl...is bigger than me...and TALKING to me. I don't get it. I just don't get it...

"You must be finding this difficult to believe," said Kaepora Gaebora. "Welcome to Hyrule. I believe where you're from, magic never truly existed...or it long since passed away, many ages ago. Either way, this is a reality that surrounds you now. But if you wish to get back to your end, I suggest you do as I say."

Kaepora Gaebora turned to Gertrude, who was just as struck as Trevor was by this whole occurrence.

"Young Gertrude," said the owl. "At the foot of this tree I came down from..." The owl nodded its head to the tree behind it. "You'll see a patch of dirt. It's a small hole and has a gathering of some rupees in there. Dig them up and give them to your parents. Say you took it as a thank you for sending Trevor back to where he belonged."

Gertrude raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't I have to fib?" she asked.

The owl hooted. "I'm sure lying in this circumstance would be just fine. It's a white fib, a noble kind of lie that must be told for the sake of Hyrule. Don't you want to help your land?"

Gertrude's face brightened up. "Are you saying I'm sort of like a knight?" she asked.

"If you wish to compare yourself to such figures, fine. You're hereby knighted by me to protect Hyrule by keeping this a secret."

"Gladly!" Gertrude saluted the owl before marching to the foot of the tree to dig the rupees out of the dirt.

"You're trusting this weirdo?" asked Trevor.

"Yep!" Gertrude plucked a red jewel from the ground. She wiped off bits of soil from its shining crimson surface. "I don't think it's too bad an idea, Trevor Berenson! He looks very trustworthy."

"He's a talking bird."

"And how often do you see that? And he knew your name, too!"

"Many bad guys can know your name, you know..."

"Maybe. But I would still trust him. Look into his eyes!"

Gertrude gathered all the rupees and walked back to Kaepora Gaebora. She cuddled with the owl, who seemed almost taken aback by the girl's warm approach.

"He's just the cutest thing!" she said. "And he's going to help you get back home to your town and friends! I'd say you should listen to him."

Trevor looked at the owl, who gave a slight nod.

"If you don't trust me," said the owl. "I won't stop you from going back into town. You have to walk the path when you're ready...not just because you feel like you have to do it. You don't know me, but I am not someone who wishes you harm. I only wish to help you get better, my child. It's up to you what you wish to do."

Trevor hung his head in thought. He tapped his foot on the ground and kept thing about how none of this went away.

If Trevor wanted to get back to Oak Shire, he'd have to follow along with whatever came his way. He had to learn to trust any kind face at the very least.

"OK..." Trevor threw his hands up in the air. "I'll listen. I'm listening. I just want to go home. What do I do?"

And so Trevor learned of the boy from the woods. He'd be garbed in green and accompanied by a fairy. Trevor would know this child to be the one he was looking for if he possessed an emerald laced with gold. After hearing all this, Kaepora Gaebora looked out onto the road and seemed to be listening for something.

"Destiny is arriving very shortly," he said to Trevor. "Prepare yourself."

The owl seemed to smile again, though Trevor wasn't sure of anything that was happening. Without a word, Kaepora flew up, rising to the treetop behind and perching himself within the shade of its green leaves.

Trevor swore he saw the strange bird shrink itself. Magic existed in this place. Trevor knew the owl was mistaken about it being gone from where he came from...but he wasn't ready to talk about that. Not yet, at least.

Trevor slowly approached the path to the castle. He looked to the left and saw the gate where two guards stood.

The gate itself was made of black metal. Polished marble stones framed it, forming into a small wall with a miniature watchtower. To the right was a wide open road back into the city. Trevor heard joyful noises in the distance, ranging from music to people chattering about their day. He also saw a boy in green.

He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a small ball of light beside him. The light floated and bounced. A wooden shield and sword were attached to the boy's back. Trevor watched the child look around with wonder in his eyes. Perhaps this was his first time in the world as well, though Trevor doubted it.

Either way, Trevor knew it best to step out and reach out to the boy. He knew it best to reach get away from the trees, ask all the right questions and simply say:

"Look...my name's Trevor Berenson..."

~*~

The rest feels like history, like something left far behind in the distant past. As Trevor learned the boy's name–Link–and also learned of his fairy Navi. He told them of a way into the castle as Kaepora Gaebora had instructed. Then, he waited.

The rest feels like history, like something left behind in the distant past. He heard more footsteps behind him and felt another presence in his midst. When Trevor turned around, he saw the red headed girl from the market. She still held the bundle close to her heart like the world's biggest secret. Whatever had been wrapped within the cloth moved about.

"What's in there?" he asked the girl.

"A cucco."

"A what?"

"A cucco. Don't you know what those are?"

The red headed girl unwrapped the cloth and out popped the golden head of a little orange-beaked fowl. It's eyes were half-closed as if it just awoke from a long sleep. The cucco looked around before nuzzling itself against the girl, trying to find its sense of restfulness again.

"A chicken?"

"I don't know what a chicken is, but this is a cucco. You could really learn some new words, you know?"

"OK...my name's Trevor. What's your name?"

"Malon. I'm from Lon Lon Ranch in the middle of Hyrule. We sell goods to the people of Castletown and Kakariko and even the Gorons and Zoras sometimes."

"I don't know who any of those people are."

"Yeah, I figured." Malon bounced the cucco in her arms like a mother would for their child. "I'm trying to find my papa...but I don't know where he is."

"You don't?"

"No...he went to the castle but hasn't come back."

Trevor looked in the castle's direction. Link and Navi made their way up the path but trouble came up for them...it was hard for the two to actually make it past all the guards.

"I can help," Trevor said without thinking. What was he thinking? Why did he...?

"How are you able to help?" Malon asked.

"What do you think would be a good way for me to help?"

Trevor saw Malon look down at the baby cucco, then back at him. She gave him a smirk and Trevor didn't know what to make of that expression.

"What?" he asked. Malon didn't answer. "...What?"

The rest feels like history, like something left behind in the distant past. Malon taught Trevor that cuccos needed to let out a cry from time to time so they could grow up feeling strong. Trevor didn't quite get it until he helped Malon create a distraction that allowed him to walk freely into the castle and catch up with Link and Navi. From there, he met Talon. From there, the adventure continued. The rest of the journey felt like history.

And then they went to the forest.

And then they went to a village.

And then they climbed a mountain.

And then Trevor found all his friends.

He thought he was heading home.

But then they went near the water...and the nightmare continued. When the bad dream kept going and Trevor revealed who he really was to his friends, he didn't know how to handle it all. They probably didn't know how to handle him either. Regardless, he knew this was the only way home...but now he wasn't sure if he could make it home.

The memories started melting away...and suddenly Trevor heard a voice. It sounded so familiar...it actually sounded like his own voice. When his eyes fluttered open, he realized that this was in fact the case...his shadow was looking down at him again.

"Hey there," said the Shadow. "Wake up."