Link had done plenty of dumb things in his life. Try to jump hurdles meant for a horse? Of course. Accidentally tripped on a chicken and had a chicken army cast unto him? Unfortunately. Bought a slingshot just to impress the little kids of Ordon? Yeah, like an hour ago. But Link had finally found a task that would rise to the top of the list of dumb thing: running into Faron Woods alone and armed with a wooden sword. To save one of those little kids of Ordon. Smart move? No. But he was in and there was no turning back now.
To be fair, it wasn't totally his fault. Talo, the small child in need a rescue, had decided to run into those very same Faron Woods to chase a monkey. And with a stick? What was he thinking? Man, you show the kid a couple of strikes and suddenly he thinks he can take on the world. Or at least a monkey.
At least the other three, Beth and Malo and Colin, were safe. Colin had been the only smart one or just too afraid. Beth only chased after Talo a little before giving up. Malo, Talo's little brother, had gone a little further but still had no idea where Talo had gone. Not very helpful but at least they were safe.
Link trekked up the path to Faron Woods, looking around behind trees and things to see if Talo was maybe hiding. No luck. He came to the end of the path to find a gate blocking the next part of the trail. He walked up and tried to climb over, but was met with wire that poked his hands and would probably impale him if he put too much weight on them.
"Damn," he thought, turning to see if there was anything he could use. Bad luck struck again. He sighed, grabbing a nearby stem of Horse Grass. It was an odd plant with the flower shaped like a horseshoe, hence the name. He took it and carefully blew into it. The sound echoed loudly around the trees and Link patiently waited.
Soft trotting sounded up to him and he looked up to greet Epona, his horse. Link gave her a quick pat for answering so quickly and climbed in the saddle. Now, while Link was not so lucky with jumping over horse hurdles (the reason it was on the list of dumb things), Epona could handle them no problem. They'd had lots of practice down at the Ordon Goat Ranch where Link worked.
Guiding Epona a few steps back, he whooped and she rushed toward the gate. She smoothly leapt across it and landed gracefully. Link gave her an extra pat as a reward. He supposed all that practice up at the ranch had paid off.
He dismounted and led her over to a waterfall for a fresh drink. Leaving her alone, he took his wooden sword out and checked his surroundings. Obviously Talo had gone this way (although it was a wonder to how he got past the gate), but he still didn't seem to be anywhere. A path on Link's side caught his attention and he carefully stepped toward it. The woods were well-known for its dangers. Rumors had been spread about potential monsters spreading around. Even Bokoblins, which Link had never seen. Only Ordon's swordsman, Rusl, had ever really seen any monsters before. Rusl described Bokoblins as "blue goblin-looking things, about the size of a grown man". Link hoped they hadn't found their way into woods.
Luckily, no monsters appeared when he rounded the corner of the side path he found. Instead of an end, he found two more paths: a dark and scary cave; or a nice safe clearing with some weird guy. Link decided to make a smart decision for once and headed over to the safe clearing.
It was plain to see that Talo hadn't chosen the clearing, but asking the strange man seemed worth a shot.
Link approached him cautiously. "Excuse me, have you seen-"
"Whoa, are you from Ordon?" He interrupted, catching Link off guard.
Link nodded in response. "Yeah, so um-"
"Hey, you shouldn't be wandering these woods without a lantern. You want one? Doing a promotion. Maybe if I give out free lanterns, then people will finally buy lantern oil." He gestured to the pile of new lanterns beside him. "Name's Coro, by the way."
Link thought about the dark tunnel he had just seen. "Yeah, I guess?"
Immediately a lantern full of oil was shoved into his hands. "Fantastic! Well, if you need more oil, you know where to find me!"
Link sighed and put the lantern on his hip, turning back to Coro. "Yeah, thanks, but have you seen a monkey? And a boy with a stick?"
Coro looked at him, excited. "No, do they need lanterns too?!"
Link shook his head and waved a quick goodbye to the strange man. Of course Talo didn't decide to go to the safe clearing. But hey, maybe if he had gotten a free lantern, Talo would've been too distracted with it to go after the monkey. But fate wasn't really on Link's side that day.
Link made his way into the deep dark scary tunnel and immediately found that, yes, it had been smart to get a lantern. He grabbed it from his hip and the oil caught fire just into to see a bat soar down and scratch at Link's arm.
"Ah!" The lantern clattered to the dirt, and Link winced as he held his arm. Not a bad scratch, but stung a little. He'd need his sword if he was going to get through without rabies.
Link picked the lantern up and balanced it on his hip so he could use his sword too. Another (or the same) bat flew down again and Link smacked it just in time. The sound of its body hitting the blade was dull and unpleasant. The bat retreated for a second then attacked again. This time, Link threw more force into his strike. The bat let out a squeal and fell onto the ground, dead.
Link sighed in relief. His first ever monster, if a bat counts as a monster. He supposed it counted more as just a creature. Monster implied more malicious intent, although that cut the bat gave him was pretty rude. He decided that he didn't enjoy killing the bat and seeing its body hit the ground was a little sickening, but that's just how it was. Link tightened his grip on the sword and tried to ignore the idea of Talo getting cuts too. The faster he got to the kid, the faster he could make sure he was safe.
A cracking sound beneath Link's feet echoed around the tunnel walls. He looked down and recognized the stick broken beneath his foot. It had been Talo's stick, the one he chased after the monkey with. Link felt his heart drop a little. Not only was Talo on his own, but now he had absolutely nothing to defend himself. Sure, a stick wasn't much, but at least it had been something.
Link pressed on, more determined now. A few more bats targeted him but he got used to slashing them in one hit. He encountered a few rats as well along with a plant that popped out at him. The rats were easy; the plant was a little harder, requiring more effort and strikes at its stem before it collapsed. Link grit his teeth at the sight of the blood on his sword. Not a sight he would want to get used to. He couldn't imagine what kind of toll all this death took on the Hyrulean soldiers. Fortunately for him, goat herding was much less gruesome.
The tunnel led to another clearing, much more tree-friendly than the last. Link gazed in awe of the gigantic trees covering the open space. There were a number of different stumps or hills that looked almost reachable, if you could jump far enough. But Link decided not to risk it; he could save the exploring for later, after Talo was safe.
Sword in hand and lantern safely put out, he walked along the trees until movement caught his eye. He turned towards it and accidentally let out a gasp before ducking behind a tree.
A Bokoblin. It had to be. It was blue and vaguely goblin-ish, taller than Link. It had a club-like weapon in its hand and looked like it knew how to use it. Link swallowed nervously, getting the idea that the Bokoblin must've had a lot more experience with some dirty club than Link and his sword. He decided to try and outsmart it and tried to figure out a plan. Hopefully it hadn't noticed him. Perhaps he could sneak past; there were plenty of trees for cover, and-
A scream and a whack sounded behind him, and he jumped at the sound. Ah. So it had noticed him. Link felt frozen in fear and his sword hung limply at his side. The Bokoblin screamed and swung again. Link unfroze with barely enough time to duck. He crouched low and jabbed his sword up into its stomach.
The Bokoblin let out another scream but in pain this time. Link seized his chance and slashed at its stomach more, until it fell to the ground. Blood poured from its wounds and it stopped breathing moments after.
Link stumbled back in shock, dropping his sword and leaning on a stump. His hands were splattered with black blood. He felt sick again, this time much worse than the bat. The intensity of the fight almost sent him into a panic and he held his head in his hands. He tried to take a few deep breaths to calm himself, but they all felt shaky. After a minute or so he was able to breathe normally again.
He bent to pick up his sword and had to swallow back the bile that rose in his throat. The blade was coated in the Bokoblin's thick and dark blood. Taking another breath, he shook his head and grabbed the sword. He wiped the blade as best he could on the grass and marched on past the corpse he had just left behind.
He was more careful this time, ducking behind trees and staying quiet. Up ahead he saw a Bokoblin guarding a locked gate. Maybe he could sneak past this one successfully. He moved against the far corner and immediately stepped on the crunchiest leaf in the whole fucking world.
The Bokoblin turned in his direction and he ducked into a hole in the rock walls, hoping it would provide him cover. If he was lucky, the Bokoblin would think it was just a squirrel and leave it alone. But the heavy breathing sounding behind him indicated that he wasn't safe, even if the Bokoblin had decided on the squirrel theory.
Link turned to find another Bokoblin with a key dangling from its belt. He made the connection instantly, assuming the key unlocked the gate that the other Bokoblin was guarding. Talo was likely behind that gate. Therefore, Link would need that key. He had to kill yet another Bokoblin.
Taking a deep breath in preparation, he lunged at the monster and landed a strike on its arm. The Bokoblin responded with a jab to Link's side that he barely evaded. He rolled to the side until he was behind the Bokoblin and a few strikes to the back finished the fight. The Bokoblin fell dead at his feet. Link bent down and rummaged for the key, cringing as he felt the warm blood touch his hand. More bile came up in his throat.
He grabbed the key and left the hollow, not bothering to sneak towards the guard. It came running at screaming at him. Link dodged its first attack and slashed its side, causing it to fall on the ground. He then stabbed it right through the back. The Bokoblin's final scream made Link want to crawl in a hole and die. He had heard animals in pain before, but usually he was not the one causing that pain. Especially a fatal one.
He yanked his sword out of the body and cleaned the blackened blade off on the Bokoblin's clothes. Link walked up to the gate and unlocked it, hoping Talo was not too much further away. It was already getting dark, and the woods get more dangerous at night.
A short walk and two more Bokoblins down led Link to a small area. He smiled in relief and almost dropped his sword as he saw Talo in the distance. But with a closer look, his grip tightened in rage.
Talo was in a wooden cage with the monkey he had been chasing. Two Bokoblins guarded the cage and he could see Talo shaking in fear. Link would have to take on both at once to save him.
Before he could think further, Talo saw him in the distance. "Link! Help!" he cried out, shaking the bars of the small cage. The two Bokoblins turned immediately to where Talo was yelling.
Link grit his teeth and ran up to the monsters. He jabbed at one before it could swing but felt a sharp pain in his back. The other Bokoblin had also attacked and hit his mark. Link could feel the blood trickle down his back.
He stuck his sword out and summoned what strength he could before launching into a spin attack. It hit both Bokoblins, sending one off the edge and slicing the other in the throat. It fell to the ground and blood poured onto the dirt.
Link took a heavy breath and turned to Talo. "Duck."
Talo crouched down and pulled the monkey with him obediently.
Link whacked at the bars of the cage and it fell apart with ease. The monkey jumped and clapped in joy before running off into the woods.
Talo rushed up to Link's side and hugged his legs, still shaken by the encounter. His big eyes stared at the fallen Bokoblin, which still had blood trickling from its neck.
"Can you take me home?" he looked up at Link.
Link smiled down at him and patted his back reassuringly. "Of course."
The walk back to Ordon was silent and fast. Talo kept his head down and stayed close to Link, jumping at every noise he heard. Link hoped that Talo wouldn't have nightmares about the day's events. When they reached the entrance to Ordon, Talo stopped and stared up at Link worriedly.
"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't of gone. The monkey is actually pretty nice. She tried to protect me and everything." Talo let out a nervous cough. "But if you hadn't been there, I might've ended up eaten or something. But.."
Link raised a questioning eyebrow at the kid as he trailed off. "I'm not going to tell your parents, don't worry."
Talo relaxed and smiled gratefully at Link. "Well, thanks." he waved goodbye and started off to his house just as Rusl walked up to Link.
"I came once I heard, but looks like you found Talo already" Rusl stated. "That shouldn't have fallen onto you. I'm sorry."
Link shrugged. "Had to be done."
"Yes. I just wish it had been me and not you," Rsul sighed, turning towards the woods. "It's been getting more and more dangerous out there. Makes me uneasy. Was it bad?"
Link looked at the ground. "A little."
Rusl nodded. "I'm sorry you had to do it, then. But thank you." Rusl patted Link's shoulder. "You should go off to bed. Big day tomorrow, yeah? You'll see Hyrule for the first time. Maybe you'll even get to meet Princess Zelda." Rusl laughed, walking off.
Link laughed too, but brightened at the thought. As he went to bed, he couldn't help wondering if he would get to meet the princess. But dreaming that she would ever want to meet a lowly goat herder like him? That possibly beat going into the woods alone with a wooden sword on the list of dumb things.