Link had been outside his house, practicing his sword technique one day when an errant blow struck the hardened dirt at the foot of a hill, causing it to crumble inward. Kneeling to get a closer look at the damage, he discovered that his sword had struck a hollow point, and prodding at the hole only made it bigger. Hey, there's a cave under here!
Deciding to explore his discovery, Link retrieved his shovel from his house and used it to widen the opening enough for him to crawl through. Setting the shovel aside, he wiped some sweat onto the sleeve of his white undershirt and adjusted the green cloth cap on his head.
As Link readied to crawl inside, his shadow sprang from the ground and formed into the familiar shape of Midna, his imp companion from the Twilight Realm. "Careful, Link," she said. "I sense some odd energy coming from inside that cave."
Link nodded. "Being so close to my house, I don't know what it could be, but I'll be careful." Getting on his hands and knees, he kept his eyes forward as he crawled inside. Reaching the other end of the short tunnel, he discovered that there was ample room to stand, and took to his feet when he noticed a small wooden chest laying on the ground in front of him. Although it was dark, the cave wasn't very big, and Link realized that the chest was the only item inside. This must be what Midna warned me about. I'd better be careful opening this.
Kneeling beside the chest, Link carefully flipped open its metal latch and tilted the cover open. A faint blueish light burned from inside. Pushing the cover further, he saw that the light came from a single gem no bigger than a small rock.
"That's odd," he said, reaching to pick it up. "It's just a--"
"No, Link!" Midna shouted. "Don't touch--!"
As Link placed a finger on the gem, he felt a painful energy discharge through his body. Shouting in surprise, he thought his voice sounded higher than normal. Then he blacked out.
"Link," Midna said, "Hey, Link, wake up!"
"Ugh..." Link put a hand to his head as he began to stir, feeling as though someone had just trampled over it. "Midna? What--Huh? My voice is..." Placing a hand over his throat, he realized that something wasn't right. Feeling a weight on his chest, sat up, expecting Midna to jump off, but the weight only shifted. Looking down, his eyes widened as his lips curled in horror.
"I told you to be careful," Midna chided from over Link's shoulder. "See what's happened?"
Link saw, all right. He saw quite a bit more than he wanted, particularly in his chest. Two breasts jutted outward from his body. They certainly weren't what he would have called large under any circumstance, but the fact that he had any at all was a concern. Running his hands over his body, he realized that other things had changed, as well. His once masculine frame was filled with feminine curves, and his body, while still athletic, no longer featured the same level of strength. Fearing the worst, he cupped a hand over his crotch and realized the truth.
"Midna, I...I'm a..."
"Yes, you're a girl," the imp said. "Any idiot with eyes could see that."
"But how...?" Remembering the gem in the chest, Link crawled back to the box and looked inside. The gem was gone.
"Well, looks like this adventure just got a bit more interesting, didn't it?" Midna asked.
Staring at the empty box, Link turned to Midna and gave her a horrified glare. "How can you be so calm? I'm a girl!"
"Of course you are," Midna said, "I've known longer than you have. That doesn't mean that your suddenly not the hero of legend or anything, does it?"
Sighing, Link looked down at "her" new body and realized that the clothing she wore, including the green tunic granted to her to symbolize her role as the latest in a line of heroes, had reformed to fit her new body. "Does it matter?" she asked. "I can't go back into the village like this! Everyone in town will see I've changed."
"Oh, quit whining," Midna said. "At least crawl out of this cave for some fresh air. You can't sit moping in here forever."
"Right, right," Link said. Getting on her hands and knees, she crawled out of the cave, stood to her feet, and...
Tue Jul 03 11:11:07 2007