Long ago, in a world beyond worlds, in a time beyond time itself, a great creator smashed his fist into the vastness that was the known universe, and called it creation. As the years and light-years passed, the worlds slowly drifted apart into separate universes, and even different dimensions. Life was spawned, and it evolved on each world as a mirror that reflected the evils of the planet. The more evil and hatred that resides on a world, the more evil and bloodthirsty the inhabitants of that world become. And so it has been, for millions of years.
Time and distance aided the prevention of evil from spreading from world to world. Only in the land of Ni, the birthplace of the universes, could evil not exist. Hardly a star system, much less a life form, could penetrate the sacred realm of Ni. It was the connection point between each universe that held everything together.
So many different dimensions branch off from the land of Ni that trying to count them all would span over lifetimes. It is only with the power of the heavens that I am able to tell you of these few...
A Ni Fanfic by Sharkrider
The fox, hare, toad and parrot were a mystery to the simple citizens of Hyrule. Not only had they appeared as if by magic (which none but the Sages could use), but they had fallen in metal eggs from the belly of a bizarre flying bird, which had disappeared into the night just moments after. They were the size of full-grown Hylians, the toad a bit shorter, and they stood upright and on their hind limbs like regular people, all except the parrot. They spoke a strange animal language and wore strange clothing and smelled strange and acted strange. None of the peaceful races, of which there were many, could make heads or tails of them. Not even Mido, great and ancient Kokiri King could understand their wild language, but as far as anyone could tell, they meant no harm.
A small kokiri slipped silently into the Town Square where the four mysterious creatures had been staying for the past few days, squeezed between the local mask shop owner and an elderly man, stood within the semicircular crowd and studied the visitors carefully. The parrot was squawking and flapping its long blue wings angrily at the slimy toad, who looked flustered and tired. He was holding a small instrument in his webbed hands, about the size of a pocket watch, which he was tinkering with, gurgling and gulping and puffing his throat, as if he were under great exertion or pressure. The noble-looking fox was drawing figures in the dirt with his paw's lengthy claws, and a local scribe by the name of Jason was staring hard at the strange symbols, trying to comprehend. The fox barked and growled quietly, and looked at Jason, eyes seeming to question him. The scribe turned towards the crowd and shrugged, the fox turned towards the toad and growled not so quietly, and the small kokiri looked away with boredom and impatience. The old buck-toothed hare was nowhere to be seen, but a few minutes earlier it was playing with some of the local children good-naturedly, though clearly feeling quite strained, obviously trying to win over good favor and trust with the townsfolk.
The kokiri wasn't stupid; though he looked a child he was truly several hundred years old, and knew something that most of these innocent and naive townsfolk probably didn't: These creatures wanted something, and would stop at nothing to get it.
The fox seemed to read the small kokiri's mind, and stared piercingly at him, eyes flickering with comprehension and frustration as the small, immortal elf stepped away from the crowd and disappeared with a flicker.
Fear.
That was the main emotion of the small wood figure in the massive torch lit stone chamber deep below the Mushroom Kingdom, miles below the Kerokero sewers. Geno was the doll's name, a hero in the distant past, now just a foggy memory for the old and a story for the young, a fairy tale hero hardly any remembered. He had come here under orders from the Star Road high council, which were short and cryptic, as they always were, and which basically told him there was trouble brewing and that he'd better get his scrawny butt down here.
Geno pressed up against a large stone pillar, breathing heavily, his small doll's body heaving with its need for air. Sap, the animated hero's "sweat", dripped down his forehead and into his eyes, and he shook it out, careful not to make a sound. He heard a slight scuffing sound behind him, amplified by the huge room he was in, and saw a shadow pass between a torch behind the pillar he was up against and the stone wall that he faced. His weapon arms were out of ammunition, and he was almost too weary to cast another star spell, but he feared he would have no choice soon enough.
The sound was closer now, just behind the pillar to the left of the one he was hiding against. He felt his adrenaline pumping and his muscles tensing as he listened carefully, his heartbeat pounding loud in his ears, wondering how nothing else could hear it, and how it didn't echo around in the vast chamber.
His eyes darted back and forth desperately for an escape route or a weapon. The enemies down here were out of his league; massive metal-clad reptiles wielding poisoned daggers, and skeletal knights that hardly needed their thick armor, they were so swift and strong. He was amazed that all these creatures could be down here without any of the Mushroom Kingdom's denizens or champions knowing. If he were just a bit younger he could probably eliminate the whole brood with the wave of a single scarecrow-arm, but lately, he'd been feeling creaky under the planks and feared he could have termites.
The rustling grew closer, and suddenly a huge brown arm wrapped all the way around the pillar Geno was up against. It's large hand clamped over his mouth and most of his head before he could make a sound, flipping him upside down as another hand grabbed his legs, and held him up like a prize fish. He was so frightened he didn't fight, and resigned himself to a grim fate. When nothing happened and the hand on his face was gently removed, he fearfully opened his eyes, and found himself staring into the dark, smiling eyes of a large, tan-colored creature.
"Hello there star man, I'm Darunia, nice to meet you. No time to explain now, gotta move."
Seemingly out of nowhere more of the tan-colored creatures, at least a dozen, materialized. None wielded weapons (but most held torches) and Geno wondered how they could survive down here. There were many creatures not understood or classified in Mushroom Kingdom, but Geno had never seen or heard of any such as this.
Geno's train of thought was broken as the score of creatures started moving and Darunia clapped his big hand over the little doll's head again. He heard a loud, chilling call echo through the dark underground chamber, and Darunia growled at the other creatures to keep moving and be quiet. Geno couldn't see where they were going, eyes covered as they were, and couldn't ask this huge burly creature to put him down until it took its hand off his mouth.
Suddenly Darunia dropped Geno right on his head, and the doll saw him spin towards the darkness out of the corner of his eye. Geno's dark blue cap fell over his eyes and he rolled over, clawing it off desperately to see what was happening through the fleet of stars swirling before his eyes. One of the smaller creatures fell against a stone wall with a rusted sword jutting out of its side, dust poring from the wound, and Darunia cried out a single word in a deep bellow: "Stalfos!"
Chaos erupted. Out of the thick darkness leapt three of the huge skeletal knights. Geno had dealt with them down here before… he knew these unarmed creatures, big and tough as they were, had no chance against three.
The so-called star man leapt to his wooden feet, a furious cry tearing itself from his throat along with all the air in his wooden lungs as the power of the stars erupted from the small doll. Darunia was grappling with one of the massive knights as the magic struck, sending them flying apart, the Stalfos into a pillar and Darunia into the dense darkness. The magic this time took the form of a massive beam of white, flaming light, which hit the knight square in the face, shattering its ugly skull. It went down with a crash and clatter of bones and steel, but before Geno could do anything more, one of the other undead warriors was before him. He fell back with a gasp, feeling that massive blast of magic drain away the last of his reserves. He tripped over his own feet and fell hard, his head (already hurt from Darunia dropping him) colliding with a granite column. The Stalfos was on top of him in an instant, rusty sword raised to strike, jaws agape in a horrific skeletal smile. As he swooned, the last thing the animated doll saw was Darunia leaping at the skeleton from the side, metal torch in hand, a wall of flames encircling him.
MUSHROOMS! Thought the teenage Hylian. How in the world are mushrooms like… like… THIS? This can't be happening! My God! Where am I?
The large mushrooms surrounded Link. Not only had the elf had a horrible fear of mushrooms ever since he ate one and almost died as a child, but they were moving, and coupled with the fact that he had no weapons on him, he had entered a state of deep denial and panic.
Link had arrived in this bizarre land a few hours ago, leaving Hyrule on a simple exploration mission. There had been strange things going on lately, such as intrusions into the Sacred Realm, the disappearance of the Gorons and the Sage of Fire, and the opening of a new cave -which he had gone through to get here- at the base of Death Mountain. He had entered the large regal castle mainly out of curiosity, finding the only living things inside were these huge mushrooms. Only when he reached the throne room did he realize that they had been following him. With a start he had leapt behind the throne, into the deepest, darkest corner he could find.
"I…I… h-how… how can you M-MOVE?" Stammered the Hylian. Were any neutral parties about, they would most definitely have found it a sight of significant mirth, this tall, athletic humanoid crouched in a corner, cowering in fear from a few two-foot tall mushrooms.
"Now, now, lad, no need to panic." Said a green 'shroom slowly that was standing before Link. "All will be explained in good time, I think. Just sit your spores down and rest your roots and I…"
Link sagged into the corner and fainted.
"Testing, testing…1…2…3 blind mice…" gurgled the toad all of a sudden, to the amazement of all present in the Hyrule Castle Town Square. The scribe, Jason, who was none too young, clutched at his chest and fell over with a grunt. An overweight woman picked up her small white dog and waddled off fast as she could. The mask shop owner, who was sketching a picture of the now-sleeping fox's face that was to be transformed into a mask, gaped at the large amphibian, words with no sound forming on his lips.
The toad took all of this as confirmation that his long awaited "Universal Translation Doohickey" was functioning correctly, and kicked the parrot who was fast asleep and perched on the well none too lightly, waking him up with an angry squawk loud enough to also awaken the hare and fox.
"G-g-greetings, folks. My name is SLIPPY." Said the large toad slowly. He had always had a stutter, which the translator apparently didn't fix. "Their names are FOX, P-PEPPY and F-FALCO," He gestured towards the Fox, Hare and Parrot. "D-don't be afraid, people, e-everything is OK…"
Jason had ceased his violent convulsions, the overweight woman and her dog were nowhere in sight, and everyone else was staring at him, most with looks of fear or amazement, except a small green-clad child, who's lips were curled up in a smirk.
"What're you s-s-smiling at?"
The small child, which was indeed the Kokiri before mentioned, replied by waving a small hand as if to dismiss the four creatures standing before it, but suddenly the hare and Fox fell over, out before they hit the ground. The other nearby townsfolk fell shortly after, the mask shop owner hitting his head on a tree with a clunk as he went down. The amphibian and parrot looked at them all quizzically, then they too fell, Slippy on Jason and Falco into the well, with a squawk and splash.
The small elf stepped up onto the well, dragged the waterlogged parrot out, rolled him gently as he could beside his fellows, and mumbled to himself, "Fairy dust must work best on mammals."
Geno had a throbbing headache, and he couldn't quite remember how he had got it. He blinked with confusion and opened his eyes, wincing against the bright light.
He was in some sort of a throne room, made of huge blocks of stone, decorated with suits of armor, royal crests, golden torches, and a regal red carpet leading up to a small wooden throne.
He heard a grunt, and rolled groggily onto his side, then leapt instinctively to his feet when his hand came in contact with something slimy.
The huge toad he had touched mirrored his move, leaping away, (though not quite as nimbly) nearly colliding with a suit of armor, and tripping on a blue heap, which revealed itself as a dripping wet parrot, slightly taller than the amphibian, and looking just as surprised.
The toad held up his webbed hands, palms forward, in the universal sign of peace, and backed away. Geno did the same, stepping back into a corner, eyeing the toad darkly and studying his whereabouts.
A fox, hare, and young humanoid were also lying in the room, sleeping deeply, their breaths regular, none showing any signs of injury. Geno reached up and gingerly touched a lump on his head, finding it to be the source of his burning headache. The doll noticed the toad and parrot were talking to each other in hushed voices, and he wondered distantly how they could understand each other.
"Star man! Glad you're awake, lad!" bellowed a somehow familiar voice, and Geno looked down the long room and at the far door to see Darunia and an injured creature enter. The toad croaked and shuffled behind a suit of armor, and the blue parrot's feathers all stood on end.
"Hello… Dra… Darunia." Greeted the doll. He was having trouble grasping what was going on… must have been a concussion. The big tan creature grinned widely as he walked towards Geno, his injured counterpart following just behind.
"Hey, dad, who's that?" said the smaller tan creature, pointing with his one uninjured arm towards the human lying near the hare. "He looks… familiar."
Darunia reached backwards and tweaked his son's ear. "Rocks below, Link, that is the ORIGINAL Link. Remember, the one I saved from Volvagia?" The green-clad humanoid emitted a low groan and sat up, looking at Darunia with bewilderment.
Geno didn't recognize any of these names, and just stood there dizzily, trying to piece together what was going on, what had happened.
"Sorry for that bump on the head star man, but things kind of got heated there…" the big creature shrugged.
"Oh, it's nothing. And please call me Geno."
"Oh, all right star… Geno. Have you met my son, Link? You saved him back there against those Stalfos knights!" he grinned from ear to ear, and reached back and dragged the injured youth forward none-too-gently. Geno recognized him as the one that had been stabbed in the side at the battle.
"Ah… pleased to meet you Link. Anyway Darunia, I was just wondering, uhm… how can I say… what exactly are you?"
Geno was shocked at the explosion of laughter this invited. "Of course you don't know, I forgot… This will probably be confusing to you." Chuckled Darunia. "Well, I am from the land of Hyrule. It's, ah, connected to where you came from by a thing we call the Sacred Realm. I am what's known in Hyrule as a Goron. We Gorons, we're from a place known as Death Mountain. Oh, don't let the name fool you!" he let out another burst of bellowing laughter, his son looking decidedly embarrassed. "Anyhow, Death Mountain, it's a nice place. We are mainly recognized in Hyrule by what we eat… rocks."
The toad, across the hall, held a strange looking mechanical device to his lips and gurgled excitedly, "A lithovore!"
Geno couldn't believe it. The chief Goron looked at the doll aghast for a moment, as if to ask if this was real or his imagination, then turned to the toad, a scowl on his face, and said, "What'd you call me?"
"Oh p-please, it wasn't an insult. Lithovores are c-creatures that survive purely on mineral consumption. We have s-some where I'm from."
"Really…" said the Goron. He clapped his son on the back. "I'll have to add this one to the history books! A frog just told me what I am."
"That's toad!"
"Sorry. Anyway star… uh, Geno, I was about to tell you what's going on. The sacred realm normally only had one entrance, which only that skinny elf over there could get into." He gestured towards the green-clad youth that was listening intently.
"Me and Zelda, Darunia. Oh, and Ganondorf that one time."
"Hey, let me talk, stick boy." Growled the big Goron, and Link shut his mouth with a snap. "Well, they were the only ones who knew where the opening to this place was, and eventually they sealed the thing up. Now, a few weeks ago, a big ol' cave popped open in the side of death mountain. Link here charged on through and…"
"Your son?" interrupted Geno.
"No, no, the elf. His name's Link too. Now, let me talk. Link came into this castle, saw a few mushrooms and FAINTED like an old maid. Around the same time my tribe met you, actually. We were looking for monsters in the caves… a few days earlier, these four creatures came into the main city of Hyrule, see," he waved a hand towards the four animals. "And scared everyone half to death. One of the Great Mido's operatives -his name's classified, sorry- knocked them out and warped them here.
"Normally I wouldn't be mixed up in all this, but a few years back stick boy, well, made me Sage of Fire… a sort of guardian of the Sacred Realm. And the Great Sage has told me all about traveling back and fourth through Ni."
"Knee?" asked Geno.
"Yeah. Spelt en-eye. Well, Ni… it's hard to explain. It's a sort of state of being… if you are within Ni, you fight for the good of things. If you aren't, you fight for the bad of things. We six are some of the greatest heroes of Ni."
"Seven, Darunia. I'm a hero too!" squeaked the elf.
"Oh, I forgot Link." Darunia leaned down to Geno's ear and said, "Just call him a hero when he gets like that. He has a few problems. He isn't really the one who saved Hyrule. It was the Eight Sages. Yes, there are eight of us. Earth, fire, water, light, shadow…" he stood tall again. "Frankly, I don't know why the Great Sage sent the dimwit."
"Probably because he has a place in this adventure, Darunia."
All the conscious creatures turned towards the voice, which belonged to a small, green-clad girl who stood just inside the doorway.
"Saria! Long time no see, green sage!" Called Darunia, leaping towards the child. He picked her up gently and gave her a big bear hug.
"Hehehe, I missed you too, Darunia." Giggled Saria as she pried herself from his strong arms and hopped to the ground. "It's a shame that the only time we really see each other is when bad things happen, but no time to talk about that now… you need to introduce me to our visitors!"
Darunia stepped forward, motioning Geno to him. "This here is Geno, the one that came from this plane. Geno, I'd like you to meet Saria, Kokiri princess and Sage of Earth… I mean Forest."
Geno offered a deep bow at the mention of her royal blood, and rose shakily when he found he could barely keep his balance.
"Nice to meet you Geno. Ah, and these must be those four creatures old Gespin told me of…" with the mention of this name Darunia hushed her, his thick finger bisecting his lips. "Come here," Saria continued, "don't be shy." She waved the four animals forward, of which only the toad and parrot seemed fully awake.
The fox barked something out sleepily, causing Saria to start, and the toad looked at her and said, "I'm Slippy. F-fox here, our leader, s-says hello. Oh, and these are Peppy and Falco. I'm afraid you w-wont be able to understand anything the-they say, as we seem to be s-speaking on different w-wavelengths, so I'll have to t-translate for them."
Falco reached past Fox and slapped Slippy smartly on the back of the neck with a blue wing. "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me, F-Falco," said the toad, rolling his big eyes. "What we're here for is b-because Falco's girlfriend, a, err, c-cat, disappeared a while ago."
"Ah, I see, Slippy… and I think I may know where your feline companion is, mister Falco." She turned to Darunia. "You tell them about everything; I have other business to attend to." Saria walked down the stairs, smiled at Darunia's son, who blushed at her shyly, and then left the room.
"Hmmm… I think I already told you most of it… oh, wait, of course I didn't." said Darunia. "I haven't even told you what the Great Sage brought you here for! Well, here goes: Geno, a couple years back, you adventured around here, the Mushroom Kingdom, with a princess called Peach Toadstool. She got, well, kidnapped… and since you were by far the most powerful of the heroes, he chose you. You four Lylat creatures… that's where you're from, right? Well, suffice to say Star Wolf stole that parrot's girlfriend." With this Slippy turned to the parrot and croaked something out, summoning a loud squawk out of the blue bird. "And as for us Hyrulians, OUR princess, Zelda, got captured. Again." Link looked shocked. "These adventures are always the same, aren't they? Damsels in distress…" Darunia trailed off, and sighed. "If only Zelda had been less stubborn about taking those self-defense classes…" The big Goron shook his head sadly.
"Zelda doesn't need self defense; she's got ME!" the green-clad elf stood up and struck a heroic pose.
"Of course Link, I just forgot. Anyway, we have a hunch about who kidnapped the ladies… Booster or Booter or something, working with some guy named Leon… only thing we don't have a clue about is who their Hylian operative is. Well, we're going to strike at the bad guy in this plane first: the one named Bootsor. Geno, since you know this area best, you'll take the lead. I'll take second, you four Lylat creatures I want to keep a low profile, Hylian link I want to stay with them, and son, I want you to stay back here with Princess Saria."
After Slippy's brief translation, everyone nodded.