In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule...
Long have I served as the guardian spirit...
I am known as the Deku Tree...
The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me. Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy. However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy...
Asleep in a lost dream, the boy was restless. There was a rainy night with thunder. The boy was in a place he didn't exactly recognize. It looked like a castle. The large, wooden bridge fell down in no time, a horse jumping over it with a female riding the animal with a small girl sitting in front of her as if protecting her. The boy's eyes met a feared expression of the little girl. After a loud thunder, the boy turned around, surprised by a large, evil-looking man. His eyes had something dark in them, his hair red. He looked angry. He seemed to be after the girl, but for what was unknown. After one more thunderous strike, everything turned blank...
Navi...
Navi, where art thou?
Come hither...
Oh, Navi the fairy... Listen to my words, the words of the Deku Tree...
Does thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm...
Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule... For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world. But... before this tremendous evil power, even my power is as nothing... It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey. The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth...
Navi... go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me... I do not have much time left. Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!
A glowing ball with wings spreads its white wings, flying away through the trees as it made its way out to find the boy the Deku Tree was seeking. It flew through the air, seeing many fairy children looking up to the lonely fairy with curious eyes. But none of them was missing a guardian. ''Hey!'' Navi called as she saw a boy outside. No response. The boy seemed to already have a guardian. Looking around some more, Navi noticed a tree house standing. That was where the boy must live. With a nod the fairy flew towards it - only to bump her head against a tall fence. Shaking off the pain, Navi flew through the holes the fence had to reach the tree house. Luckily for her, the houses didn't have doors and it was open to enter.
Inside the tree house, Navi saw a sleeping boy who didn't seem to have a guardian fairy. She flew up to him. ''Hello, Link! Wake up! The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you! Link, get up!'' The fairy tried to wake him, but the boy seemed to refuse. He groaned a bit, turning away from the annoying fairy that tried to interrupt his slumber. ''Hey! C'mon!'' Navi bounced up and down a bit angrily in the air as the sleeping boy refused to listen. ''Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?!'' Finally, the sleeping boy decided to wake up. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He was a little bit surprised to see the glowing creature inside his tree house. ''You finally woke up!'' It took way too long for him to wake up. ''I am Navi the fairy! The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on, nice to meet you! You probably have many questions to ask, but the Great Deku Tree has summoned you, so let's go now!'' Link looked at the flying, magical thing and nodded, standing up from his bed to go outside.
It was wasteful to stay inside. The weather was clear, sun shining through the trees in the forest. A girl with short, green hair and a green Kokiri dress ran up to the tree house, waving at the boy who was still standing on top. ''Yahoo!'' The fairy girl excitedly greeted. It was Link's friend Saria. Link made his way down, climbing down the wooden ladder that was used to get up in his house. He jumped off when there were still three steps left. ''Wow! A fairy! Finally, a fairy has come to you, Link!'' She truly was happy for her friend, surprised to see the flying creature. ''That's such great news, I am so happy for you! Now you're a true Kokiri, Link.'' Saria smiled and laughed happily for him. Link was still surprised by it too, explaining to her the reason why a fairy finally had come to him of which he still wasn't sure why. ''Is that right? The Great Deku Tree has summoned you?'' The fairy girl looked a bit surprised by this but happy at the same time. ''It's such an honor to talk to the Great Deku Tree! I mustn't hold you up. I will be waiting for you here. Get going! You shouldn't let the Great Deku Tree wait!''
Waving bye to his friend, Link moved on to go see the Deku tree. Everybody in the forest knew where it was. Link took a right turn, having to cross water to get there. He stepped back to make a fast movement to jump over the water without falling in it. It was a child's game. Unfortunately, there was a fairy boy blocking the path to the Great Deku Tree.
''Hold up right there!'' The fairy boy spoke, one hand placed on his hip and the other out in front of Link to signify he wasn't allowed to go on. ''If it isn't 'Mr. No Fairy'. What is your business with the Great Deku Tree? Without a fairy, you're not even a real man!'' It was common sense to the fairy boy, but taking a closer look he saw something different on Link. ''What!? You've got a fairy?! Say what? The Great Deku Tree actually summoned you?'' There was a long pause as the other couldn't believe his ears. And eyes. ''Whaaaaaaaat?!'' This was unbelievable and unacceptable; his eyes were filled with disbelief. ''Why would he summon YOU and not the great Mido?'' There must be something wrong with the Great Deku Tree. Mido, the fairy boy's name, looked away in anger. ''This isn't funny...'' He muttered. ''I- I don't believe it!'' He said, huffing and crossing his arms against his chest. ''Besides, you're not even fully equipped yet! How do you think you're going to help the Great Deku Tree if you don't even have a sword and shield?'' There Mido had a point, but Link too had to kindly remind the fairy he had no equipment either. ''W...What? Yeah- you're right, I don't have my equipment ready, but... if you want to pass through here you should get a shield and sword!'' Mido didn't budge, refusing to let Link go through without anything on him. ''Sheesh!''
For now, Link had no other choice but to listen to Mido. With a sprint, he jumped back over the water where he came from earlier. He could ask Saria for help, but he didn't think she would know where he could get a sword. Link had seen a shield not long ago in the shop. Thinking deeply, Link ran around through his hometown to see where he could find the sword. It must be in a well-hidden place he assumed. Walking up a hill, Link reached the training field. Some fairy children (mostly the boys) came here to spar and work out. There was a small hole big enough for a small human or any fairy to crawl through the wall. There was a sign next to it.
'Watch out, danger!'
Was what it said. What could be dangerous about it? It had Link curious what possibly could be up on the other side of this wall. Navi chimed. ''Hey!'' She called to Link. ''Do you think the sword might be up ahead there? It's a pretty well-hidden spot! Let's see if you can fit through the hole, Link.'' It looked like that Navi had the same idea as the boy. Link nodded his head to the fairy and got on his hands and knees right in front of the tight hole. He made sure to be aware of not bumping his head, that might be painful. He slowly crawled forward and it was a perfect fit for his small body. He crawled all the way through it, making sure not to stand up too soon before he would hit his head. Once fully out, Link stood up. He patted some dirt off his knees and looked around. He did hear something from not too far like something was rolling. He decided to follow the sound. Link knew he had to be careful, because of the warning sign before he crawled through the gap and yet...
It was a very close step. Link was just in time to avoid it. A huge boulder rolled around. So that was the danger the sign was warning about, no wonder! Link peeked from his spot to see where the boulder rolled to and saw not far away from him a chest resting. Bingo! Carefully he looked around and listened if the boulder didn't come back. He took a sprint towards the chest, climbing on the rock it was resting on. ''Open it, Link!'' Navi excitedly bounced up and down. Link too felt a rush of excitement flowing through him. It was clear on his face too. He opened the chest slowly, pushing the heavy valve up to see what was inside. In there was the sword Mido was talking about. With a large grin on his face, Link picked the sword up. It wasn't a big one, but big enough for him to carry it on his back. ''Neat! You've found it, Link! Let's go back and get a shield. Watch out for the boulder!'' Safely he returned back to the other side of the wall, this time with a new-found sword. Link was too excited and took it out to look at it. It was shining against the reflection of the sunlight. He swung the sword to test the feel of it. For fun he cut some grass, finding hidden rupees in it. That was right, he needed rupees to be able to buy a shield, his own rupee bag was completely empty. If this was the way to gain some rupees...
''Ha! Ya! Hiyaaa!'' With a large spin (or as large as it was for the boy!) Link cut some more grass. Not only that, he decided to break some pots too by picking them up and throwing them. What a thrilling feeling! The boy had lots of fun. He entered a few fairy children's houses to find the pots, throwing them like he was on a rampage. The children stared at him, making a face. Link was just about to throw another pot until he noticed their stares. Holding it up above his head the blond laughed a little nervously. Gently he placed it back down on the carpet, stabbing it quickly with his sword to get a rupee out of it. He fetched it in his hand and with another nervous laugh, he ran out of the house. They all must think he was crazy. He collected a few more until he was done.
With a bag full of rupees Link walked up to the shop. A very small fairy who couldn't even reach above the counter was jumping up and down in hope he could greet his customers. ''Welcome, welcome! What can I do for you?'' He asked. Link knew exactly what he needed and came for. He pointed at a wooden shield on the bottom shelf on the right. ''The Deku Shield, eh? No problem, no problem. That'll be 40 rupees, young man.'' Taking out his bag, Link opened it and started to count his rupees. He probably had enough now. He placed down two red rupees on the counter that was worth each 20 rupees. ''Thank you, young man. Here you go, have fun with it.'' The owner handed the shield to Link and he equipped it on his back right away. Now he looked like a real hero! And now it was time to show it off to Mido to finally meet the Great Deku Tree.
As expected, Mido still stood there blocking the way. But now Link had a sword and shield so the fairy boy had to let him pass! ''Hold up!'' Mido right away made Link stop. ''What had I said to you? Before you can pass you need a- Eh, what's this? You... You have a Deku Shield, I see... and what's THAT?! Is that the Kokiri Sword?! GOOD GRIEF!'' Mido looked very annoyed - more than ever. ''I can't believe it...'' He muttered under his breath, hands placed on his waist in annoyance. ''Well, even with all that stuff a wimp is still a wimp!'' He pointed with a finger at Link to let him exactly know who he was talking about. ''I, the great Mido will never accept you as one of us. Shoot! How did you get to be the favorite of Saria and the Great Deku Tree? Just go.'' Mido grumbled pretty loudly and stepped aside for Link to finally let him go through.
The Great Deku Tree wasn't far from here on. ''Let's go, Link!'' Navi said to the young hero and Link nodded his head. There was one thing Link wasn't prepared for as he walked through the path to the Great Deku Tree. Out of nowhere blue plants grew out of the ground with sharp teeth, aiming their heads at Link. The boy got startled, tripping over his feet and stumbling back. He fell on his butt, sitting in the grass with fear in his eyes. ''Watch out! These are Deku Baba, it'll hurt if they touch you!'' Navi warned the boy. The plants couldn't walk and were stuck to one place, but one of them reached forward again to bite Link. Link quickly crawled back, that was pretty close. In this situation, he had no idea what to do. He hadn't expected any monsters to be here! A forest that was so peaceful and filled with joy was now filled with dangerous and murderous plants. What else was there up ahead? ''Link!'' Navi called to get him out of his thoughts. There was no other choice. Up ahead was the Great Deku Tree and Link had to go there. With trembling fingers, he reached for his sword on his back. His arms were shaking, holding a firm grip on the handle of the small sword and he took in a deep breath.
''Hi...'' Link took a step forward, raising the sword above his head. ''...Hiyaah!'' He yelled and jumped to slice the monster in half. The plant let out a cry as it got sliced in half by the Kokiri sword. It was defeated. Breathing heavily, Link stared down with wide eyes to the blade of the sword. That had been very scary. At first, Link had thought this was going to be fun, but the reality was so much different. There wasn't much time for Link to think as Navi called out a 'watch out!' to him. The other plant that was still alive tried to attack Link. It was a quick reaction, Link spun with his sword and right away cut the other plant in half too which let out the same cry as its congener. Thank God that was over. Hopefully, no more monsters laid up ahead, but all Link could do was wait and see...
''Great Deku Tree, I'm back!'' Navi called out as they both finally reached the place. It was an open place in the forest, a large tree standing. The tree looked like it had a face and a mustache.
''Oh, Navi... Thou hast returned... Link... Welcome...'' The Great Deku Tree spoke slowly. ''Listen carefully to what I, the Deku Tree, am about to tell thee... Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless, and full of nightmares... As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive of it... Verily thou hast felt it... Link... The time has come to test thy courage... I have been cursed... I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage... Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?'' Link seemed to be a little bit unsure about this all at first, looking at Navi who bounced up and down a little to tell Link 'yes'. She would, of course, help Link through this. Looking back at the Great Deku Tree, Link nodded his head to tell he indeed had enough courage to do this. ''Then enter, brave Link, and thou too, Navi...'' A door opened from the tree what looked like to present the Great Deku Tree's mouth. ''Navi the Fairy, thou must aid Link... And Link... When Navi speaks, listen well to her words of wisdom...''
It was time to enter the Deku Tree. Link didn't enter just yet, staring up to the large tree. ''Oh, Great Deku Tree, Link and I will do our best to save you!'' Navi said. ''Link, let's go!'' Link nodded his head to Navi and ran towards the Great Deku Tree's mouth to enter inside. A whole new adventure was about to begin.
