As he often did, Chausk, a geru lizalfos, sat in his workshop as he crafted a personal project, a simple wooden box this time. Of course, no personal project of his could truly be simple - this time, he'd challenged himself to work with the theme "Radiance". It'd taken him some time to figure out how to represent that, but it was coming along well...

There was a knock at his door, and without waiting for a response, another lizalfos came in. Chausk already knew who it was without looking - a certain messenger was the only one who ever entered like that. "Braz, how many times do I have to tell you to wait for me to say something?"

"R-right, sorry, I keep forgetting for some reason... Anyway, I've got a request from the chief for you, he wants a mask for himself. Made with something durable."

Durable... Ebony would work. "Hang on..." Chausk got up and checked his neatly organized stockpile of wood... Only a few scraps of ebony. "I don't think I have anything that would work for that right now."

"He told me to ask if you could go get some if that was the case..."

Chausk sighed. His project was going to have to wait. "Well, can't exactly turn down a request from the chief... Let him know I'll be out for an hour or so." He and Braz left, and Chausk went to equip himself. He wasn't going to need much, just some basic gear to protect himself and maybe a few tools to actually get the wood with. The trees that were good sources of ebony were all either close or inside an area that was "forbidden" in the swamp his tribe lived in. Though he'd never really gotten a straight answer of what the issue with that place was... But, he planned on staying clear if possible, as he set out to get some strong wood.


The search wasn't going the best. While he was doing a good job of keeping himself relatively hidden thanks to having experience hiding in swamps, and skirting around the forbidden area, he just couldn't find any trees that were going to work - their branches were all too thin, and he wasn't strong enough to just drag a tree back after cutting it down. Chausk sighed once more, and looked in the direction of where he wasn't supposed to go. He could already see a good tree for ebony some distance into there... It wasn't as if any other monsters were around, surely it wouldn't be any harm to go in for just a few minutes? He figured he could at least take a look, maybe he'd finally find out what the alleged issue with the place was.

Nothing really changed when he went in, but he'd figured it wasn't going to be obvious at first. Chausk made sure to keep his guard up regardless, drawing his shortsword just in case. Maybe it was just a placebo effect, but the vibe was feeling a little different... He put extra effort into keeping himself hidden, diving into the water for minutes at a time while slowly making his way toward the tree. When he finally got there, he took one more look around. Still no sign of any danger... He was starting to get the feeling the place was only "forbidden" to keep it private for the chief.

Just before he could begin cutting some branches from the tree though, the lizalfos noticed something quite a bit different. There was some kind of tall dark mass not too far away, rimmed with gold light... Getting wood could wait, he needed to see what that was. It wasn't moving, so he couldn't see how it could be dangerous. With nothing else around that looked like it could be any kind of threat, Chausk put a little less effort into hiding, though was certainly still careful along the way.

After a few minutes, he stood at the base of the darkness, a pale orange light around the area. It almost seemed like night was starting to fall, but he knew it was still a few hours off... Glowing markings had become visible on the darkness that he definitely would've seen from a distance, as well. Grabbing a nearby loose branch, Chausk cautiously poked at the darkness, causing it and the markings near that point to ripple slightly. Was it some kind of liquid? The branch was unharmed, so maybe he could try touching it directly. Turning a little, he held his tail and just barely touched its tip to the darkness... A similar ripple happened, and nothing more, his tail as unharmed as the branch. Maybe it really was just harmless... He got an idea that he knew was stupid, but he couldn't just leave this without learning everything he could about it. Walking a bit closer, nearly touching the darkness, he took a deep breath, held it, and pushed his head inside...

It was completely different than he'd expected. Somehow, there was an entire landscape in what had been the darkness! The orange light from before was more intense, and little black squares were rising up at random, but other than those it just looked like a normal swamp. Stepping fully inside, Chausk looked around, still holding his breath for a few seconds before he carefully took an experimental breath... Whatever this place was, he could breathe, and exhaled to just breathe normally. The temperature was slightly lower than it'd been outside, but that wasn't an issue, and he started to explore the strange place.

Barely even a minute in, the lizalfos paused as an odd tension began building up all over him. It did NOT feel good... Was the area itself somehow doing it? Staying in it so long had been a mistake, he needed to leave! He started running back the way he came as the feeling rapidly became more intense, but ended up tripping before he could reach the dark wall he'd entered through. He tried to get up, but he felt like his limbs were getting weaker, as if the environment was sapping his strength... In a moment where he happened to see his arms, he realized what exactly was happening in that regard: His limbs weren't just weakening, they were shrinking. Not only that, the rest of his body felt like it was getting longer.

He kept trying to get up while he still had his arms, but couldn't... And then they were gone, as were his legs. His fear mixed with curiosity as he awkwardly shifted to watch the further changes, his body narrowing and thinning as he felt some kind of unseen change to his tongue. His vision heavily blurred for a few seconds as his eyes were altered as well, and he did his best to clear his vision... Then, the tension stopped. Looking himself over, Chausk fully realized what had happened: Someway, somehow, he'd become a snake - or a "rope", as he knew them.

His head grew sore for a moment as knowledge of how to move in his new form entered his mind. After the pain cleared, he coiled himself up to better take in the unfamiliar sight of himself. From what he could tell, his colors weren't all that different, but he certainly wasn't going to be recognizable... He tried to speak, but no words came out, the best he could do being a little hiss. This was going to be REALLY bad if it didn't wear off on its own...

A distant distorted screech brought him back to reality. Whatever this place was, it was dangerous, and he needed to leave before he found out what had made that sound. Slithering as fast as his new body could, he continued to and through the dark wall. That got him back to the swamp he'd been in... But not back to being himself. Completely uncaring about not having gotten any wood, Chausk started on his way back to his tribe, hoping someone there would know how to cure him... If he could even make it clear he wasn't just some random rope...

It was slow going, now that he didn't have legs. That rush of knowledge hadn't exactly given him any experience, and he kept struggling to get over things he could previously effortlessly jump over. Where there were no obstructions he could go faster than before, but in a swamp places like that were few and far between. The most odd thing about his rope form though, it lacked the aquatic capabilities his normal self had. Swimming was awkward and slow, and he couldn't even hold his breath a full minute before he'd have to surface. Those could at least be trained back up...

After what he believed to have been an hour since he'd been changed, Chausk started feeling a similar tension to what he had when he'd first transformed. Hope rushed through him at the same time, as he wondered whether he might be reverting... Something was changing for sure, but differently from before. His body was quickly becoming darker, and he soon wasn't able to move... Then, it was as if the darkness burst off of him, making more of those squares he'd seen through the darkness, and he was returned to his normal geru lizalfos self! Though laying on the ground, which was quickly rectified. He smiled, very much relieved that that hadn't been permanent and that he somehow still had the equipment he'd come with, before remembering what he'd come out for... Getting ebony didn't seem very important any more. He still really wanted to get back to the tribe for whatever reason, so he continued on his way. Someone else could get that wood.

When he arrived back at the tribe, hardly even thinking, he beelined for his workshop. Along the way, he happened across Braz again, who had a look of confusion as they followed him to talk to him. "...What happened to you getting wood?"

He definitely couldn't say he'd been in the forbidden area... "Something happened. I need to... Make a mask." That slipping out finally placed it for him: More than ever before, he was feeling an intense desire to carve a mask for himself.

"Okay, just don't keep the chief waiting too long..." Braz stopped, watching Chausk continue before walking away.

Getting to the workshop, Chausk closed the door, grabbed his tools, pushed aside the box he'd been working on earlier, got some wood - whatever felt right - and sat down to get to work.


The next thing he knew, he was slumped back at his desk as if he'd fallen asleep and just woken up. His hands and eyes were a bit sore, and he shook his head a little to try to get his bearings. "What just happened...?"

"Are you FINALLY about to actually listen?" Chausk jumped as he looked behind him, seeing Braz leaning against a wall, looking impatient.

"W-we just talked, how did you get in here ahead of me?"

"That was an HOUR ago. Came in here to give you a message from the chief, but it was like you were in some kind of trance while you were making that mask. Gotta admit though, it's pretty impressive."

Chausk looked back at his desk, seeing an unfamiliar mask. It looked like it'd perfectly fit him, and had dark colors with gold markings on it. The same markings that had been on that dark wall. "...I... Don't remember making this..." He picked it up to look it over.

Braz's impatience turned to concern. "...Are you okay? I can tell you're being genuine... Did something happen while you were out there?"

Chausk thought about what he should say. He would probably get in trouble if he said he went to the one area of the swamp he wasn't supposed to... But, what if whatever was happening to him got worse? Someone in the tribe had to know what all this was. "...I went into the forbidden area."

Braz sighed. "There's a reason we're not supposed to go there, you know! You're lucky it didn't end up worse!"

"I know. I need to talk to the chief about... Something I saw there."

"I was gonna make you go to him anyway and tell him what happened. I'm gonna come with you, I'm worried about you. And bring that mask, it might have something to do with it."


The chief, a silver chameleon lizalfos, sighed and shook his head once Braz finished relaying what they knew. "Should've known somebody wasn't going to listen... There's monsters there, you know, and not like us. Things that are too strong for us to fight. And I'm sure you know that now."

Chausk shook his head. "There weren't any monsters there, not that I saw. There was... Something weird. Some kind of dark wall."

The chief's frustration immediately turned to confusion and curiosity, which Braz mirrored. "A... Dark wall? Can you describe it any more than that?"

"It had a gold outline around it, and... When I got close, it had the same markings on it that this mask does." Chausk held it out for the chief to get a better look.

There was a moment of silence as the chief looked at the mask and thought. "...When you got close, did things get... Weirdly orange?"

Now it was Chausk's turn to be confused. "...How do you know that?"

"That was Twilight. I never tell anyone about that since I don't want them getting curious... From what I know, there's a different world in there, sort of like this one but a lot more hostile."

"Yeah, it really freaked me out... When I went in, I-"

"You went IN!? Even I'VE never done that!"

"I-I know it was a bad idea, but I was careful about it! I just tapped it a couple times first to make sure it was safe!"

"...You're either really brave or really stupid..." The chief sighed. "Well, what was it like in there?"

"Like what you said. Different world, it was a swamp like outside, there were these weird black squares floating up... And after I think a minute, for some reason I turned into a rope - as in the monster."

"You... Turned into a rope."

"I got better, at least. It only lasted about an hour after I left. Not having limbs was awful..."

Braz finally spoke up. "I did hear a while back that, a long time ago, a hylian that went into Twilight became a wolf... I guess we can be changed by it too?"

The chief nodded. "I suppose so, I've heard of it happening to other monsters. Never one that kept its mind though..."

Chausk continued. "I think it did sort of alter my mind though. When I got back, I wanted to make a mask more than ever in my life, and when I sat down to make one, the next thing I knew an hour had passed and I'd made this one. I don't even remember making it."

"Hm... One second." The chief got out their wand, waving it while saying something strange. Chausk had seen this before, they were using some kind of magic. Something about it felt different though, even though he'd seen them use this exact spell before...

"...It's magic. Only in the same way a spellcasting focus is, but it's magic. Most foci can't even be made in a DAY, much less an hour..."

"Wait, so... I might be able to do magic with this?" Chausk had always wanted to be capable of magic, but he'd never managed to figure out even the most basic things about it...

"You almost certainly can, if you're the one that made it. Take a break from your work for a while, and experiment with that mask. There has to be more to it, you were practically possessed to make it. You're dismissed, Chausk."

"R-right!" Chausk left, already studying the mask some more. How was he going to make it - or himself - do something magic?


A couple hours went by, and the geru lizalfos was stumped. He'd tried everything he could think of - copying some of the words and motions the chief used for their magic, putting it on - which felt weird, but didn't do anything - or just willing it to do SOMETHING. Nothing seemed to work.

Chausk sat, dejected and frustrated, on a dry spot of the swamp. He was far from giving up, but what else was there to even try at this point? There had to be something he was missing. Looking down at the water, he figured he'd give a shot at getting it to move - better than nothing. He pointed the mask at it, willed the water to move... Nothing, once again. "Come on, you dumb thing..." On a whim, he tried a weird gesture that had popped into his head-

Light shone from the mask's eyeholes, and some of the water he'd been trying to move shot a few feet into the air! He scrambled back a bit to avoid being splashed as it fell back down. Did he do that? He turned the mask toward him, but the light that had briefly appeared from it was already gone. Getting back up, he approached the water again, turned the mask back to face it, and tried a gentler version of the same gesture.

The light returned, and the water rose again, gradually making a bump on the surface that soon lifted into the air, making a floating sphere! Chausk was thrilled at the sight of it, and experimentally turned the mask slowly, watching as the water ball followed where it was facing. It was happening, he was finally doing magic!

He lost track of time as he experimented. He could change the color of water, or freeze it, or make it into different forms instead of just spheres... It could all still be done while he was actually wearing the mask as well, making aiming easier. He HAD to figure out what else he could do, but it was such a pain to figure out even one spell... While he'd never really looked before, maybe there was some kind of information about magic in the tribe somewhere? Chausk decided research was going to be his next step, and started looking around.


Having spent the rest of the day searching, he'd found... Very little. The only writing he'd found that even mentioned "mask magic" at all was clearly about a different kind of magic than he had, and the chief's magic was too different for asking about it to help either. He was on his own.

But, a thought still occurred to him. He knew of a lot of stories where people that were struggling to improve themselves, exactly like he was, would have a much easier time gaining experience by going out on adventures. And it wasn't as if he was going to learn much more about how his magic worked by sticking around the tribe either... Chausk decided he'd give it some thought. If he was going to leave though, he'd need a better way to defend himself. While he usually fought with a shortsword, he wasn't all that good with one.

As night was falling, he went into his workshop to try to figure something out. He knew combat magic was a thing, he'd seen it before, so maybe he had some himself? But it didn't sit right with him to just blast some random thing to test it out. After clearing some space, he grabbed some scrap wood from a bin and set it on the floor to act as a target. All that was left was to figure out how to fire something at it... And to aim right so he wouldn't make much of a mess.

Chausk stood a few feet away from his target, mask in hand like it'd been for most of the day. He aimed the mask... And had no idea what else to do. He tried thrusting the mask toward the wood, he tried gesturing with his free hand - the latter felt right, but something was still missing. Thinking back, he remembered that the chief would say weird things when using magic, and they'd once explained that that was often an important part. But, how was he going to figure out what to say?

As he thought about it, words suddenly entered his mind; meaningless, yet meaningful. Just like when he first figured out how to control water, this had to be it. He combined the words and the gesture... And the mask's eyes lit up once again as a bolt of some kind of energy was fired out! It missed the target entirely, scorching the floor next to it, but it wasn't too far off.

And then, practice. Each shot was closer to landing than the last, and Chausk took a look at them as each one went. They almost looked like crystallized moonlight, and while they weren't all that impressive compared to what he'd heard of, he was very much still proud, especially when the fifth shot finally landed. The scrap wood was broken into pieces, and the lizalfos grabbed a replacement to keep trying.

Eventually he was hitting about three quarters of the time, and figured that would do. The floor around where he'd been putting the targets was in a bit of a state, but he could repair it easily enough tomorrow. With that though, now able to defend himself with magic, he figured he was good to go if he decided to leave the tribe after all. For the moment, he was tired, and after cleaning up the bits of destroyed wood and tossing them in the scrap bin, he left to go to bed.


As he waited to get to sleep, Chausk put some more thought into what leaving the tribe would mean for him. He'd never really gone more than a couple miles from home before, and he'd be fending for himself out there... Especially since he was a lizalfos. He may be uncommonly peaceful for his kind, but the "civilized" species weren't going to know that. At best, they'd probably assume he was trying to get their trust to then steal from them or do something worse. A disguise would probably help at least a little, but it wasn't as if he had one. Magic might be able to help in that regard... As he thought that, he briefly got an urge to put on his mask, which he took as a sign that he had some dormant magic that'd work. But, was he really going to go through with leaving...?


The next day, he'd made his choice, and went to the chief to let them know. "I've... Decided I'm going to leave. I really do have magic now, and yesterday I learned a couple... Cantrips, I think they're called? But I don't think I'm going to get far with it if I stick around."

After a moment, the chief nodded. "I understand. To be honest, I was pretty much the same way when I discovered mine. Wouldn't have been able to do anywhere near as much as I can now if I hadn't gone out to master it."

"Right, you did this sort of thing too... Any advice?"

"Don't go it alone, if possible. Assuming things haven't changed much over the years, there's plenty of groups you might be able to join. Try to find one that already has a variety of species, they should be more open to having a monster join them. And if they don't have a sage, recommend that they find one, you always need a healer."

"Got it. I've actually been studying a bit of alchemy lately, so maybe I'd be able to make healing potions too..."

"Exactly. Do whatever you can to make yourself valuable, you're going to have a rough time earning people's trust."

"Okay..." Chausk took a deep breath, then let it back out. "Guess I'd better get geared up."

"Grab whatever you want from the armory, just not enough that you'll be weighed down. If anyone asks, tell them I sent you. I'll gather up some other supplies for you while you're at it, so meet me back here after."

"Right, I'll be back." Chausk made his way to the armory.


It wasn't often he entered that building, so even after having lived in the tribe for so long, it was relatively unfamiliar. Weapons, armor, ammunition... Those weird blade boomerangs some lizalfos swore by... Even if he hadn't been told, he knew to travel relatively light. Studded leather armor, a new shortsword, a shortbow and a quiver of arrows just in case his magic didn't cut it... That all felt about right, at least in terms of equipment.

Though before he returned to the chief, he quickly went to his workshop, gathered up some carving tools, and put them in a box to take with him. Before he left, he took one last look at the place. It'd practically become a second home for him, with how much time he'd spent in it... He chuckled as he saw the unfinished box he'd put aside. It was probably going to be staying that way. With a sigh, he turned to leave it all behind.

A few minutes later, Chausk stood at the edge of the tribe, wearing a backpack full of supplies the chief had given him that included a handful of rupees - all that could be spared, since money hardly mattered to the tribe. "Try making and selling masks, there should still be a market for those", the chief had recommended. Quite a few of the tribe's lizalfos had come to see him off, including the chief of course, and several offered up some basic - and fairly obvious - advice.

Soon, it was time. With one last goodbye and wave, Chausk started walking away from the tribe, headed in the direction of where he knew the nearest "civilized" town to be-

"Oh, Chausk, one more thing!" The chief called out to him, and he stopped to listen. "If you ever happen across a blue super aeralfos with claw scars on his face, and named Te-mar, let him know I'm still around. He's an old friend of mine from the group I used to work with! You can't miss the guy, he's built like a darknut!"

Chausk quickly got out the notebook he'd been given and noted that down. "Got it!" And with that, he continued on his way.


The very beginning of his journey was... Kind of boring. He had a lot of walking ahead of him, and there wasn't much way for him to speed that up. Thinking back to the events of the previous day, he found himself actually sort of wanting to transform again - there was beginning to be far less water around, which would be perfect for that rope form he'd been forced into, and he could go faster like that.

As he thought about it, a pale orange light from below caught his attention... Markings like what had been on that Twilight wall had lit up on him, but were fading again. When he thought about becoming a rope again, they began getting brighter again... Smiling as he realized he may be able to transform whenever he wanted, he continued to focus on that feeling.

After a few seconds, black squares formed from the air around him, shooting onto his body as he felt his limbs retract away again, the rest of him being coated in darkness as he noticed his gear seemingly absorbing into him... And not long after, the darkness faded, and Chausk had become a rope again. With a happy hiss, he slithered along much faster than the pace he'd been walking at. Though only for an hour, before he reverted again. It seemed that duration limit was still going to be there... Not bothering to get up just yet, he focused back on transforming... And quickly noticed nothing was happening. Maybe it was a once a day thing? Disappointed, he got up - a little less surprised than before to see he had his things on him again - and continued normally.


Hours passed... His legs were getting a little sore. Maybe he should've waited to use his transformation so his legs could rest while he slithered... If that was how it worked. Regardless though, the town he was aiming for was finally coming into view! He continued toward it for a while, before remembering: The people there weren't going to be too pleased about a lizalfos approaching the town. Quickly switching to keeping himself hidden, Chausk continued on.

Eventually, there were no more hiding spots ahead of him. He could see the entrance to the walled town tantalizingly close... But there were guards there, he couldn't just walk up. He tried to remember what his plan for entering was going to be... A disguise of some kind, but he didn't have a disguise... He got the urge to wear his mask again, and this time he acted on it. It was as snug as he expected. And he had no idea how it would help, he was still obviously a geru lizalfos.

After a few seconds, words and gestures entered his mind again... This was what was supposed to happen, he was about to learn a new spell! As he was starting to get used to, he did the gestures and said the words. At the completion of it, he shuddered as he felt like something he didn't know he had was being partially drained, and his body began to change in a different way from before.

His scales softened into skin and changed color to a sort of pale pink, as he felt the mask almost seeming to press on his muzzle so hard it began retracting into his face - not in a painful way, but as if he were being molded like clay, and he almost didn't notice a similar thing happening to his tail as it too shrunk.

The mask disappeared entirely as it seemingly merged into him, and countless strands of something formed on the top of his head... Hair? And on the sides of his head, pointed ears as well. At that point, the odd shifting sensations stopped - though he still felt strange - and he looked himself over. He'd become a hylian... Was his magic already that strong?

As impressed with himself as he was, being a hylian felt... Wrong. The transformation had worked right, he could tell, but it was as if some cosmic force was only begrudgingly allowing it, telling him "Please don't do this often." And indeed, he had every intention of obeying that request.

With a deep breath to try to keep calm, Chausk stepped forward from his hiding spot, immediately stumbling from the lack of weight of his nonexistent tail. That was going to take some getting used to. Trying his best to keep his balance and act natural, thankful he'd kept his belongings on him instead of them merging into him like before - though the mask was nowhere to be found - he continued to the entrance of the town.

Sure enough, the guards paid him no mind as he entered. Among all the people around, he didn't stand out at all... He took in his surroundings, having never been in a true town before. It was a much busier place than the tribe he was from, almost a little overwhelmingly so... He shook his head and tried to focus. Somehow, he knew that that transformation magic wasn't going to be permanent, so he had to get to work while he could. With a look of determination on his new face, he set out to see the town's sights, and hopefully find a group that could help him master his magic.