Yo, and welcome to the first part of Chapter Two. As of right now, this is as far as I've gotten, though that will change, obviously, since I really like this story. Warning: There is some exposition at the beginning of this chapter (the Deku Tree tells a story…gee, I wonder where I got the idea that the Deku Tree likes to tell stories…). Even just this first part of Chapter Two is longer than Chapter One was, so there's plenty of material to enjoy.
Previous chapter summary: Fire, a fan of LoZ, has a surreal experience when he tries to play OoT in his basement. When he comes to, he finds that he is in a forest, which turns out to be the Lost Woods. He saves a purple fairy named Fae from some random fairy-catching Hylian kid who we all hope gets what's coming to him and turns into a Stalfos or something. Fae takes him to Kokiri Forest, where he meets the Kokiri Leron and his obnoxious fairy partner Artemis. The two of them take Fire and Fae to see the Great Deku Tree.
Also, I'm going to keep advertising Legend of Zelda: The Return and Legend of Zelda: Reconciliation by Rose Zemlya. Because they are the best LoZ fanfics in the history of LoZ fanfics. Rose Zemlya is like the goddess of Zelda fanfics. If you like her stuff, let her know by scooting on over to fengs-shui . com (get rid of the spaces, obviously) and becoming a member of the forums. They need more traffic.
So without further ado, here's Chapter Two! (or at least the first part of it)
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Two: Kokiri Emerald Again, or Fae the Fearless
Like Link beginning his adventure, I thought to myself. Fairy comes to me, then I'm summoned to the Great Deku Tree. Here's hoping the similarities end there.
It was an unfulfilled hope.
"Fire," the tree continued, "I know that you question why you are here, in this land of Hyrule." I nodded almost unconsciously. "Let me tell you a story, and then perhaps you will understand."
"The time the Triforce broke apart to lend its powers to Ganon, Zelda, and Link was not the first time it had done so. Long ago, before the Hylians settled this land and the Gerudo came from far across the desert, there was a war between the Gorons and the Zora. The Sheikah had split loyalties, and their people were in turmoil. The Kokiri alone stayed out of the war.
"The Sheikah were the keepers of legend, as they still are to this day. They passed on the stories of the coming of the Goddesses who created this land and their departure from this realm. Secrets of the Triforce and the Sacred Realm were closely guarded. However, one ambitious soul tired of the constant strife, and sought to make the Triforce his own to put an end to the war.
"As admirable as his goal might have been, his heart was not pure. He spurned the Zora for their reluctance to meet their enemy head-on, oblivious to the calm wisdom of their choice; they were far weaker than their foes. He decried the foolhardiness of the Gorons for charging into ambushes and traps when they were already at a disadvantage, refusing to acknowledge the fiery courage of risking their lives. Above all, he despised his own people for being unable to take a stand, hiding in the shadows like weaklings. With the power of the Triforce, he could make everyone bow down to his strength and force them to live together without warring.
He made his way to the sacred realm, where he found the Triforce waiting. When he touched it, however, he found that, to his horror, the lower portions of it vanished, leaving him with only a third of the sacred relic. That was enough, however, for him to achieve power beyond his dreams. With his great physical prowess and magical might, he stepped out of the shadows and attacked. He was indiscriminate, heedless of whether he struck down Zora, Goron, or Sheikah; man, woman, or child. He called forth monsters into the world. Out of the graves of dead warriors rose Stalfos, and even ordinary civilians rose as Stalchildren. Lizards of the mountains grew larger and began to breathe flames, exploding and showering their killers with death when slain, the Dodongo. Harmless octopi of the rivers suddenly started shooting rocks out of new-grown trunks in their heads, Octorocks. Water Spiders enlarged to enormous size and became extremely aggressive, the Tektites. When he found that these were not enough, he crafted even stronger beasts – the Gohma, gigantic Dodongo, and Volvagia the dragon were among them.
"The races called a truce to face this new threat. The Black War, as it is called by the Sheikah, the only race who remember it, lasted for several years, and it was clear that the wielder of the Triforce of Power was winning. It did not matter that a hero of the Gorons had defeated Volvagia. It was only a matter of time.
"And then the Gerudo and the Hylians came from across the desert. It was clear that the two races were not friendly with each other, but they tolerated each other enough to travel together. When they came upon this land, the Hylians fell in love with the plains and decided to that this was where they would make their home. The Gerudo followed them into Hyrule, intent on stealing their way to the top.
"But it was not long before both races saw the catastrophe that the now power-crazed Sheikah was bringing upon Hyrule. A council was called to make a decision on what to do. Two Hylians stood up and declared that the right choice was to form into an army and press the attack. A young man of impressive courage volunteered to lead the army from the front and take the battle to the corrupt Sheikah's door. A young woman with wisdom beyond her years announced her intent to form an alliance with all of the other races. The two of them had been chosen by the other fragments of the Triforce, although they did not know it.
"Because of the skilled diplomacy of the woman, she managed to bring all the races under one banner, to fight for one cause. The man cut his way through the monsters and brought the fight to the Sheikah. It was then that he discovered with horror that no mortal's blade could do him harm. Both had been blessed by the power of the Goddesses, but the Sheikah's power was greater than the Hylian man could imagine. He refused to retreat until the woman convinced him to pull back with the promise of forging a sword that could slay the foe.
"The Zora swam down deep in Lake Hylia to retrieve the metal of a fallen star. Together, the Gerudo and the Gorons used knowledge and force to pound it into the perfect shape. The Sheikah enchanted it with magic that would cause it to keep in perfect condition forever. The Hylian woman obtained the aid of the fairies of the Kokiri to give it blue and red flame and a perfect weight. Then all six races gathered one each of their strongest mages, whom they called sages, to call upon the Goddesses to grant the blade sacred power.
"Blade in hand, the young Hylian dueled with the Sheikah, the woman assisting him with her magic. Finally, the Sheikah was struck down. Before he dealt the final blow, the Hylian noticed the triangle mark on the back of his enemy's hand with surprise, for both he and the woman had acquired similar marks several years ago. He called his companion close, and when the three hands touched, the Triforce leapt from their hands and became whole. Heeding the woman's wish for it to return to the Sacred Realm, the power left and the Sheikah died.
"In the following years, the Sheikah race worked out a way to make the sword, now known as the Master Sword, a key and lock to the Sacred Realm. Meanwhile, the woman was crowned Queen of her people, and they settled into Hyrule. The Sheikah swore they would serve the royal family in gratitude for saving them from certain doom at the hands of one of their own and to prevent such hubris from arising in their people ever again. The young man retired from the military and allowed himself to fade into the background.
"Because of disputes between the Gerudo and the Hylians, the Gerudo moved back to the desert at the edge of Hyrule; not too close, but not too far. Time went on and the Black War was forgotten by all but the Sheikah. I know it because the memory of the Deku Tree is ancestral, so I have the knowledge of all the previous Deku Trees. I think you know of the story of the Great War, also called the Hyrule Civil War, and the Hero of Time who was born near the end of it."
I sat there in silence. I had sat down after the first couple paragraphs of story. It was fascinating, to be sure, but it was a rather long story. Well, that was some history that wasn't in the games. The Volvagia part I recognized, but nothing else. The origin of Hyrule as a country rather than a plot of land. Interesting. I was still trying to piece together what this had to do with me coming to Hyrule from another world.
And then it hit me.
I immediately looked at the back of my hand.
I hope I'm wrong.
The Kokiri and his fairy had no idea what was going on. Leron looked like he was half-asleep, and Artemis was just staring off into space. Fae was seated on my shoulder – when did she get there? – and was also staring at the back of my hand. I turned my eyes to look at her, and she turned to face me at the same time. I swallowed.
"Are you trying to tell me," I whispered, turning my eyes back to the tree, "that when this bruise goes away, I'm going to have the Triforce of Courage on my hand?"
"That is correct, Fire."
The golden hand – the hand of one of the goddesses…Farore, I think.
This was not going to go well. I could already tell.
I suddenly didn't think it was coincidence that I was left-handed and had bleached hair.
"I guess that answers the question of whether it's reincarnation or not," I muttered to myself. Fae looked at me, puzzled.
And then the panic part of my brain kicked in full force. I'm supposed to fill Link's shoes. Oh, crap. I'm gonna die.
And for the third time in my life, I passed out.
*
I opened my eyes to see a tiny purple face staring down at me in concern. I groaned and sat up, noticing a worried looking kid and a rather uninterested looking red fairy. I don't think I'm going to like Artemis, I thought. Fae fluttered in front of me, still concerned. I forced a smile. How long was I out?
"I'm all right, Fae," I reassured her, a bit unsteadily. "It was just a bit much to take in all at once, and I guess I fainted."
The worry lines left her face and she gave me a relieved smile. My smile became less forced.
"Thank goodness," Fae said. "I thought maybe you were hurt or sick."
"I still don't get why you're so concerned about him," Artemis put in. "It isn't like he's your Kokiri partner. Which you don't have."
I gave him a glare. What's wrong with Fae being concerned about me? At least she's not a jerk! Then I remembered how much it pained Link to not have a fairy and wondered if not having a Kokiri was similar. Then again, there are a lot of fairies, and not so many Kokiri. I glanced at Fae.
"He saved me, Artemis. I told you that already. Besides, he is a nice person. Why shouldn't I care?" She didn't seem bitter or anything.
"More to the point," I said, ignoring the speechless Kokiri boy, "I don't think the Deku Tree was finished yet." I look deliberately back at the colossal plant.
"You are correct again, young Fire. If you recall the legend of the Hero of Time, before he set out into the world as a child, he lived with the Kokiri." I nodded. If this went where I thought it was going to go… "The previous Deku Tree had been stricken by a curse from Ganon in the form of a giant Gohma Queen. The Hero slew the beast, but the Deku Tree perished nonetheless. Before his death, however, he granted the boy the sacred stone of the forest, the Kokiri Emerald. Later, the Hero returned the Emerald to me."
I nodded again, unsurprised. I really hoped this wasn't going where I thought it was.
"The Kokiri Emerald has more powers than the ones used by the Hero," the Deku Tree rumbled. "And I would give it to you for you to use, as I can sense that dark times are about to come again, which your presence in Hyrule is evidence of. Unfortunately, I cannot. The Emerald is inside of me, placed by a Kokiri long gone, and I cannot retrieve it for you. Normally, I would be able to, but there is something sapping my power. I have spoken to no one of this; I do not wish to cause a panic among the Kokiri. Now that the new Hero chosen by the Goddesses has arrived, however, I hope that something can be done. I fear that this may be the same curse that killed my predecessor. It has plagued me for only a short time, so if the source is destroyed, I should yet live. Fire, will you enter within and destroy whatever is sapping my strength and return with the Emerald?"
Oh, great. It went where I thought it was going to. I'm not a hero, people! I'm just me – Fire, the college kid who likes video games and knows Ocarina of Time like the back of his hand… only I guess I don't know the back of my hand too well right now, what with the bruise and impending Triforce mark. Sigh. I hate this already.
"On one condition," I said wearily. Everyone looked at me. "Well, two, actually. I need something to defend myself with (even though I have no idea how to use a sword properly) and I want Fae to come with me to help me." Fae almost fell out of the air in surprise.
"Leron, my child, you and Artemis go and fetch the Kokiri Sword," the Deku Tree rumbled. As the boy and fairy ran off, the Deku Tree addressed me. "The heirloom blade may be little more than a knife in your hand, but it is the best that I can offer to you. I would equip you with a shield as well, but the ones crafted by my children the Kokiri are far too small for you to wear," he apologized.
"You want me to go with you?" Fae asked, still surprised.
"Sure," I assured, smiling. "The Hero Link had a fairy partner, didn't he? If I'm expected to be some kind of hero, too, then what's wrong with me having a fairy partner as well? And who is better suited to be my partner than you?"
"A lot of fairies," she mumbled, looking away. "I couldn't even outrun a Hylian child."
I frowned. "What has that got to do with anything? You've known me the longest of anyone in Hyrule (except the Deku Tree, but that's irrelevant) and you've helped me out when I needed it. You care about what happens to me. What more do I need?"
"Someone with more knowledge about the world than me," she said quietly, still looking away. "Someone who can spot enemy weaknesses and help you read signs written in the Goron or Zora script. Someone who can tell you where next to go when you are stuck. Someone who –"
"You aren't Navi," I exclaimed, a little more loudly than I intended. She turned around. "You aren't Navi," I repeated more softly. "And you don't have to compare yourself to her. Navi had her faults too, just like everybody else. And I'm sure that you have strengths that Navi didn't have, Fae. You're a wonderful fairy; I've only met two fairies in person so far, but I think that they are examples of the opposite ends of the spectrum: Artemis is a jerk, and you are a wonderful person. Don't put yourself down, Fae. You're more than good enough for me."
If I wasn't imagining it, she had tears in her tiny eyes. She rubbed them away with her little fists and gave me a huge smile. "I won't let you down!" she promised me.
Leron and Artemis returned with the Kokiri sword. Little more than a knife was right. If I got into any dangerous battles, I'd have to get awfully close in order to hurt my enemy. I didn't think knowing about sword fighting would have helped me any. I'd just have to punch and slash at things.
I was going to die.
"Enter in, brave soul," offered the tree as he opened his mouth just like the one in Ocarina of Time. Well, here goes nothing…or rather, everything, but I don't have a choice in the matter since I'm stuck here. At least the panicky part of me has gone back to sleep. I hesitantly walked into the Great Deku Tree, remembering that Link had done it in Ocarina of Time in a much more enthusiastic way. But I wasn't Link, and I wasn't anywhere near as sure of myself.
I regretted my decision almost immediately.
I barely managed to jump to the side to avoid the giant plant thing that lunged and snapped at me. The image of the Deku Baba in the game was way too generous. This thing was hideous! And really scary. Instead of a single stalk coming up from a few leaves on the ground and a smooth blue head with a toothy maw on top of it, the Deku Baba was a far more threatening beast…plant. The base was some kind of black brambly bush that came halfway up to my knees. It constantly writhed as three separate green vine-like stalks covered with what looked like stinging nettle lashed out violently in all directions; they were each about three and half feet long or so. A thick brown rope of a stalk, covered with large pointy briars, about five feet long held the head. It was huge, at least three times the size of my head. Horns and thorns covered the sickly blue top, wriggling vines hung from the blood red bottom, and I could actually see the venom that dripped from the jagged rows of teeth, of which it had several, like a shark. It had no eyes, but it seemed to know exactly where I was and pulled back to strike again.
I lunged sideways to the right at the same time as it whipped forward to bite me. It took a chunk out of the sole of my sneaker, but I managed to avoid getting hit. My eyes were wide and I started hyperventilating. The part of me that told me when I was being stupid must have been spending too much time with the freaking out part, because both of them were screaming at me to run away. I couldn't. I was paralyzed by fear.
I was out of the plant's reach. It swiveled around, searching for a new target. It found Fae.
"Fae, get away from there! Hurry!" I managed to scream.
It snapped at her and missed. She sped over to me and landed on my shaking arm, which was still gripping the useless Kokiri Sword. She was quivering just as badly as I was. Our eyes met, and we saw our own fear reflected in each other's eyes. We were both convinced we weren't going to come out of this alive.
"I- I've got a lot more respect for Link," I gasped out, desperately trying to reign in my terror, "if he fought multitudes of these things when he was as small as the Kokiri."
"Me too," she stammered back. "And for Navi… that thing could eat a fairy in one gulp!"
We just stared at each other for about a minute. Eventually, the Deku Baba pulled all of its stalks back into the brambles and nestled its head on top. As if by magic – actually, it probably was by magic – the brambles vanished and the head shrunk, until it just looked like a tangled bush with a large nut on top. It stopped shaking. Gradually, when it didn't jump out again, so did we.
"I thought I was supposed to have the Triforce of Courage," I said sourly, glaring at the bruise on the back of my hand. "It sure didn't help out with that Deku Baba."
"Well, I think we're going to need it, Fire," Fae said nervously, looking around. I looked up to see what she was talking about and nearly had another panic attack.
The inside of the Great Deku Tree was both similar and different from the one in the game. It wasn't quite as big, for one thing, since there was room for a central chamber and offshoots in the game, but the central chamber here was some thirty feet across at the bottom. It was a light shade of brown and the gigantic rings were visible on the floor. Along the walls there were places where platforms jutted out and ran along the side, leading upward. Vines grew along some of the walls. But I also saw what Fae was talking about. On the floor where we were currently standing, there were four different Deku Babas, evenly spaced. That didn't leave a lot of room, except in the center, where we were, that wasn't within the Babas' reach. And in the dead center of the chamber was a twisted pillar of wood rising from the ground and stretching up and out of sight into the darkness above. The only light was from the open mouth of the Deku Tree.
Deciding that investigating the center pillar was safer than trying my luck against the Babas (which were way too fast), I slowly stood and walked over to it. I placed my hand on it and jumped back in surprise.
What was that?! I exclaimed to myself in shock. It felt like…I don't know, like something was pulsing through it – energy, or power, or life, or something. It was so strong and deep. It felt like it could have just washed me away like a bug in a river! I gazed at it in amazement. Fae fluttered over and she, too, placed a hand on it. She smiled in pleasure and closed her eyes. She began to glow brighter and brighter until I couldn't see her at all, but only a ball of violet light. The orb drifted lazily over to the blade of the Kokiri Sword and landed on it. The back of my hand burst into burning pain.
I screamed with the sudden pain and watched stupefied as the sword in my hand began to grow. The blade extended and widened, and the hilt enlarged in proportion. When it stopped, I was holding the hilt of a blade as long as my forearm – still short for a sword, but long enough for me to use from a slightly safer distance. The pain ceased abruptly and the glow flickered back to normal, leaving a very confused and disoriented fairy standing on the flat of my sword.
"Wha?" she stammered. "What happened? Why am I over here? And how did the sword get bigger?" She looked up at me, hoping for some kind of explanation.
"I'm just as confused as you are," I reply, shaking my head. "You touched that pillar thing and you started glowing really bright. You flew over to the sword and landed on it, and my hand started hurting. Then the sword grew."
She turned her gaze to the pillar. "The Deku Tree's Life-stream," she said in hushed awe. "It gave me power."
"Life-stream?"
"The source of his life and powers," Fae explained. "It's what makes him so strong and wise; it allows him to be guardian of the forest."
I squinted up into the darkness. "Should it be this small? I mean, it's less than two feet thick."
Fae nodded, worried. "It should be twice or three times as thick as this, at least. He said he had only felt the curse draining him for a short length of time, but there has been far too much damage. If we don't hurry, he really will die."
I was thinking. "But I was doomed before you started…" I whispered. There had been no Life-stream pillar inside the Deku Tree in Ocarina of Time. It had already been destroyed and the floor eaten away. He had been living on his last reserves of energy. Fae looked at me curiously.
"There's still hope," I told her, redirecting my gaze to her perfect eyes. "When the Hero Link fought within the old Deku Tree, the Life-stream was already gone. Small as it is, this Deku Tree still has his. We can still save him." I turned determinedly to face the initial Deku Baba. I hardened my expression. "We will save him."
"Yes," Fae said, and I could tell she had had her resolve strengthened as well. "Let's start by taking down these parasitic plants." She charged.
Immediately, the Deku Baba surged out of hiding and resumed its grotesque appearance. I ran forward and swung my blade at the main stalk as it struck out at the fairy girl. I was lucky, and the sword's sharp edge cut clean through, causing the venom-filled-tooth-filled head to fall to the wooden floor. The rest of the plant continued to writhe madly and I had to make sure to stay far enough away to avoid getting struck by the smaller vines. The main stalk collapsed limply. The head thrashed wildly in place, snapping at the air. I took the sword and stabbed the thing right through, the blade sliding in like a knife through butter. When I did, the whole plant, both head and body, immediately ceased moving, and the primary stalk and head crumbled away.
I was about to turn to another Baba to continue my crusade when I remembered that some of them respawned in the game. I studied the plant. Three extra stalks. I wonder… I waited for several minutes, Fae silently watching me, eyebrow raised.
When exactly three minutes had passed, one of the stalks began to grow. The leaves fell off, and briars poked out. It started to brown. And best of all (that was sarcasm), a head gradually appeared. Wonderful. Not waiting for it to finish growing, I stepped forward and sliced off the head before stabbing it. The stalk withered into nothing.
"I wonder if I can kill it without waiting for a new head to grow," I pondered aloud. This didn't seem nearly so scary as before. I briefly wondered why.
"Well, go ahead and try," suggested Fae. "I'm surprised you knew it was going to do that when you've never seen a Deku Baba before. I certainly didn't know."
"I didn't either," I told her. "I just suspected it. And my suspicions were right. Remind me next time I'm hesitating about something because I'm suspicious that my suspicion was right before."
"Can do!" she laughed. She has such a pretty laugh.
I brought down the sword and sliced each of the other vines in two. They both withered and disappeared. A small blue fire sprouted up from the center of the plant and burned it away, leaving behind a small valentine-shaped object. I picked it up with my free hand.
"I always thought this was just a game mechanic," I said in surprise. "What is it?"
Fae raised an eyebrow again. "You don't know?" she asked. "That is a Heart Berry. When you kill a monster, it leaves one behind. Sometimes you can also find them in places where monsters have died before. If you eat it, it reenergizes you and heals some wounds."
I studied it. It did look a bit like a heart-shaped berry. "So what differentiates a monster from a normal plant or animal?" I asked.
"Magic," she answered immediately. "Normal plants and animals aren't made with magic. Even if a particular monster you fight was born, hatched or grown from another, that kind of creature was originally formed into what it is by magic. Some of them are normal, even good – the Kokiri for instance. Others are bad, like the Deku Baba."
I looked at her in surprise. "So the Kokiri are considered monsters?"
"Technically," she answers, "but nobody thinks of them like that."
"Well, you learn something new every day," I said, shaking my head. "And I learned a hundred things today." I paused. "Why do monsters leave these behind?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just accept it."
I placed the whole Heart Berry in my mouth, which was just big enough to accommodate the magical…fruit? The outside felt kind of like the outside of a strawberry, and when I chewed it, I found that it tasted similar too. I swallowed, and suddenly there was a rush of warmth throughout my body and the lingering pain from my self-inflicted bruises vanished. I also felt raring to go. "It reenergizes you" was a good description. "Wow," I commented.
The two us of turned to face the next Deku Baba. "Let's try that distraction tactic again," I suggested. Fae nodded and darted over to the parasite. As it raised its ugly head to strike at her, I lunged with my sword. Unfortunately, it was faster than I was, and I missed the stalk, instead scoring a blow along the side of the head, which did successfully reroute it away from the girl but didn't do much more to the monster than cause it to reel back in pain. It certainly didn't kill it. Swinging wildly, I tried to reach the brown stem, but I had forgotten about the stinging nettle-covered other three, which thrashed around the base of the plant. One of them caught me on the ankle and wrapped around it, pulling my foot out from under me and causing me to fall backwards.
"Fire!" Fae cried out, zipping over to me and fiercely attacking the vine. Gah! Ow, ow, ow! My ankle hurts like crazy! That stuff really is stinging nettle! I briefly shut my eyes and flailed my arms and free leg, trying to free myself from the Deku Baba vine that was swinging me around. I felt a whoosh of air and my sword hand stopped moving. My eyes snapped open and I saw that the Deku Baba head had tried to bite me and gotten impaled on the sword. The poison teeth were only an inch from my arm. I jerked my arm backwards as the beast went limp, dropping me. The head started crumbling, but not before some of the venom dropped on my retreating arm. Within seconds it had been absorbed into my skin. Not good. Also, my ankle still hurt.
I lay on my back, breathing hard and trying to both calm down and ignore the pain, for the good part of a minute. Then I realized that someone else was whimpering slightly. I slowly sat up and looked down at my ankle, where Fae was sitting, rubbing her hands and feet with tearful expression. Oh, right. She tried to get the thing to let go of me and attacked the stinging nettle head on without any kind of weapon.
"Fae? Are you all right?" I asked in concern. Poor little girl, she probably didn't even recognize it for stinging nettle. With a body that small, she was far worse off than I was. Well, excluding the venom, but it hadn't taken effect yet and I didn't know what it did. Her hands, feet, forearms, and lower legs were all covered with large bumps. I was glad that the bumps were sized in proportion to her body (otherwise she wouldn't be able to move), but having that much of her body covered by it was nearly as bad.
She looked up at me and I almost forgot about my own pain as I saw the little tears that rolled down when she did. Poor, beautiful girl. I wanted to hug her to comfort her, but she was a little too small for that. I reached out and gently picked her up with my left hand after setting down the sword. I brought her close to my face and smiled gently at her. I resisted the urge to do the next-best thing to hugging – something I've wanted to do with cute baby animals for a long time – holding her up to my face and cuddling. I thought that would probably scare her more than anything else, and I certainly didn't want to make my only friend in this world afraid of me.
"It'll be all right," I murmured. "I'll kill this Baba and then we can share the Heart Berry. That should get rid of the stinging bumps, all right?"
She nodded and I set her down. I picked up the sword and proceeded to hack away the rest of the vine-stalks. When the blue fire consumed the monster and the Heart Berry appeared, I held it out to her to take a bite. She grabbed onto it gingerly and chomped into the side of it, chewing and swallowing. What does she normally eat? I wondered. She's so small. She took a second bite, and then the swellings began to recede at a remarkable rate. I quickly consumed the rest of it and my ankle was soon back to normal. We exchanged a smile and went on to the third Deku Baba.
This one only had a single stalk, and it was much easier to kill. Maybe it was younger. I stuffed the Heart Berry in my pocket for later use. That was something you couldn't do in the games. I knew that this would be very convenient, especially if I had the equivalent of 3 hearts, like Link did at the beginning. On the other hand, the whole business of having hearts might have just been a game mechanic and not have any bearing on reality, despite the truth of the Heart Berries. I had no way of knowing.
The fourth and final ground level Deku Baba caused us both to jump back in surprise when Fae flew forward to distract it. Well, I jumped. She sort of flew backward with a jerking movement. It had five extra stalks instead of three. Well, as long as I keep a safe enough distance from the plant, I should be okay…but that will be difficult to do when the main thing is only a foot and a half longer than the others. I stared at the hideous head for a few seconds before stabbing the blade of my sword just into its strike range.
It struck like a snake, clamping onto the Kokiri Sword as though it were the prey it so persistently sought. Its teeth scraped as they tried to break through the magical steel. It suddenly pulled back, and I struggled to keep a grip on the sword without being pulled forward. Without warning, my arm went completely numb and I lost control of my muscles. The sword was jerked from my limp hand and my arm fell to my side. I barely had time to register what had happened when my arm seized up and went stiff. I could tell from the way it was hanging – I couldn't feel it. I stared at it in shock and I realized what had happened.
The Heart Berry hadn't cured the venom. And now the venom was taking effect.
"Fire?" Fae's voice quavered uneasily. She hadn't expected this any more than I had. "What happened to your arm?"
"I think it's the venom from the second Deku Baba," I said nervously. "Some of it dripped on me when I killed the head." I took a few steps back. "What if it does this to my whole body?" I fretted aloud.
"Then I can run off with Fae," responded a voice. Artemis.
"Artemis?" Fae gasped. "What are you doing in here?"
Artemis drifted over to Fae, ignoring the Baba, which had dropped the sword and retreated, and me, who was staring (I had been doing that a lot lately) at the annoying red fairy with a mixture of surprise and distaste.
"We heard some of the fighting sounds," Artemis answered. "And I decided to come help my little violet girl out." He gave her a cocky grin. "Need rescuing yet?"
"Arty, wait!"
Leron.
Oh, no.
The most direct path to us passes through the Baba's area!
"Leron!" I yelled. "Don't come!"
I was too late. The Baba raised its head.
And instantly, its head was lopped off by the Kokiri Sword, which had been on the ground beside it only a moment before.
By me, right-handed.
I didn't have any idea how I did it. I guessed that the Triforce was responsible. I chopped all the other vines and breathed a sigh of relief when it burned away. Dropping the sword, I picked up the Heart Berry.
And then the rest of me went limp and numb, and I came crashing down. I couldn't even answer the worried cries of the others; my mouth wouldn't work either. Only my eyes and my brain seemed to be functioning, and I was beginning to question whether my brain had really been functioning properly at all since I arrived here. Or even since I first tried to turn on that stupid N64.
Then I went rigid. I closed my eyes, and I panicked. I was going to die without even getting wounded. This was pathetic, and it was scaring me right into my grave. I don't want to die!
I didn't. I felt a tingling in my limbs, and suddenly feeling rushed back into my body. I could move again, too! I sat up (I had fallen over) and opened my eyes again, confused but glad. I jerked back a little when I saw that Artemis hovering only a few inches in front of my face, mild distaste apparent in his expression.
"I guess I didn't run away with Fae after all," he remarked. "Be grateful that I cured you of the poison or whatever. Now you won't lie there on the ground like a pathetic –"
Fae shot over and shoved him out of the way. "Are you all right now, Fire?"
"Yeah…thanks, Artemis."
"I only did it 'cause the Deku tree would scold me if I didn't," he said, waving away my thanks. He really knows how to tick people off, doesn't he? I thought wryly.
I stood up carefully, picking up the sword and heart. I pocketed the berry and let the sword hang loosely in my hand, as I didn't have a sheath for it. I turned to face Leron.
"I'm glad that you and Artemis came here to help," I began, "but we're really lucky you didn't get yourself killed. I'm not really sure what happened when I saved you from that monster, but I wouldn't count on being that lucky again."
Leron bowed his head slightly. "I know. I really am sorry for running into danger like that." He looked up at me defensively. "But I had to chase Arty! I couldn't let him go in by himself!"
Artemis gave his partner an injured look. "Really, Leron, don't you trust me? I can handle myself, you know! Besides," he flew over to the Kokiri and whacked his nose lightly, "my name is Artemis!" Leron rubbed his nose and sighed.
I shot a sideways glance at Fae. "What do you want to bet they forget we're here and start arguing?" I whispered. Fae's worried look shifted to a grin.
"I am not taking that bet," she whispered back. "I would lose."
Leron opened his mouth and Artemis put his hands on his hips.
"What do you say we just keep going and leave them here?" I asked. She fluttered over beside my shoulder with a mischievous grin.
"That sounds good to me," she responded with a barely audible giggle. Meanwhile, Leron and Artemis had begun their debate over what was proper and who should be apologizing to whom. I turned away from them and searched the walls to see if any of the vines that reached the floor looked climbable, since up was the only direction to travel. I spotted a six foot wide section of thick green vines tangled together in a sort of web-like structure over at the far side of the tree, opposite the opening. They were mostly shaded by the Life-Stream, since as I mentioned earlier, the only light came from outside of the tree.
I headed over toward the vines with the fairy girl in tow, the arguing pair completely oblivious. I idly noted that it was a good thing that we had taken care of all the ground level monsters already or they would be in serious trouble. I just hoped we could get far enough away that they wouldn't follow us before they noticed us. As grateful as I was that Artemis had cured me, I really didn't want to have the obnoxious fairy and clueless Kokiri exploring the inside of the Deku Tree with us. I had enough on my plate trying to keep myself alive, let alone two noncombatants. Well, to be honest, I didn't really think protecting Artemis would be that hard, but he got on my nerves.
When I reached the vines, I realized that I had a very serious problem. I glanced down at the hand that was holding the Kokiri Sword.
"Um, Fae?" I said quietly.
"What is it, Fire?"
I raised the sword up and gestured at the vines.
"How am I supposed to climb with one hand holding this?"
Fae stared at me in surprise. "I really need to stop thinking you know things already," she remarked, shaking her head. I raised my eyebrows. What "obvious" thing did I not know this time? "The Kokiri Sword is a magic blade, so it can call its scabbard to it. All you have to do is will it and it will appear on your back."
Well, that made sense. Or not; it didn't really matter whether it made sense so long as it worked. I put the sword in the nonexistent sheath on my back, only to discover that it was existent. What do you know, Fae was right. I sighed and shook my head. None of this made sense, and my logical part of my brain was just giving up on trying to reason it out. I reached out for the vines and began climbing slowly.
The vines held firm under my weight, not so much as budging. There were plenty of places where they crossed to form handholds and footholds, so the fact that I had no idea how to climb a rope didn't hinder me at all. Fae flew beside me, just a little higher up than I was, illuminating the few feet around me bright enough to see clearly. I guess her glow was more useful than Navi's had been in the game. That was good, since I had no light source.
Climbing was a good deal more strenuous than I would have guessed. I remembered getting annoyed at how long it took Link to climb stuff when I played the game, but he moved a good deal faster than I did. He was a natural athlete…and I was most decidedly not. I had scarcely climbed ten feet up before I was breathing hard and had difficulty focusing. Oxygen deprivation, maybe? I stopped and hung there for a moment, trying to pump some more of the life-giving substance into my lungs. Fae landed nervously on a vine just in front of my face, peering at my in concern. Man, that girl is so beautiful…seeing her worried just hurts for some reason…. No! Must not think like that!
"Are you all right, Fire?" she asked.
"I'm…fine," I said softly, trying to measure my breaths. "I just…need more…practice, …that's all." I leaned against the vines and closed my eyes for a minute.
After opening my eyes once again, I continued the climb, my purple partner steadily flying about a foot above me. To my right, I noticed the wall begin to slope outward; a platform area jutted out even further up. The climb continued for another fifteen feet before I reached the top of the platform. I frowned. There was absolutely no way I could jump over to the platform, and the vines did not inexplicably start spreading to my right for me to climb over above the platform like they did in the game. I was about to say something to Fae when I heard it.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. Ch-ch-ch. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.
What was that noise? I knew I recognized it from somewhere in the game, but I was having difficulty placing it for a second. I tilted my head back and looked up at the same time Fae let out a gasp. Now I remembered. There was a very large spider about 10 feet or so to my upper left, which I could see in a dim combination of the outer edges of Fae's glow and the light from down below. My heart stopped.
You know how the Deku Baba was a lot scarier for real than in the game? Well, so was the "Skullwalltula," the smaller version of the Skulltula, which climbs on vines. In the game, they look basically like flat skulls with legs that change color when they charge at you. I could still see why they were known as Skulltulas, even though they didn't look like flat skulls. Let's put it this way: ever seen a tarantula? Hairy, ugly, and big, right? Now imagine that the spider is, not including legs, at least as big as your torso. The legs are jet black with long, pricker-like brown hairs sticking out of them. Eight big old eyes stare at you from the front, and long, poisonous mandibles click out in front of them. The underside of the spider is black, but the top is mostly white – the abdomen is all white except for the gigantic beige thorn-like hairs that protrude at every angle and look as though they could cut like knives and two black spots, and the head is white with giant beige retractable fangs sticking out over the eyes. The hairs are maybe six inches long and the extra fangs twice that. It really doesn't sound as scary to describe it as it really was. Especially when it spotted me and charged me – the whole thing starting to glow this weird purple-red and venom flying everywhere from the clacking mandibles.
And then my heart started again, going much faster than it was supposed to. Panic flooded through me – I only had a split-second to make any kind of decision to escape what would most likely be my death. If I didn't avoid the spider (which would be impossible to do by climbing) then I would be lunch…or dinner, since it was late afternoon. If I simply let go of the vines, I would probably die from the fall, or at least break a whole lot of bones – it was more than a twenty-five foot drop that would land me on my back or my head. There were really only two other choices: try to stab it while holding on to the vines with only one hand, or try to make the jump I had already declared impossible. I must not have been panicking as much as I thought, or I wouldn't have been able to reason all that out in such a short time.
And then the unexpected happened. Without hesitation, the glowing girl dashed to intercept the monstrous arachnid. My decision was made. Letting go of the vines with my left hand, I whipped out the Kokiri Sword, barely keeping myself from falling. The spider slammed into the fairy and sent her hurtling through the air to land sprawled on the platform beside me. Continuing its relentless charge, heedless of the potential prey it had just lost, it neared me at alarming speed. The panic vanished as anger welled up inside me at what had just happened to Fae. I held the point of the sword directly in the beast's line of movement. It impaled itself on the sword, stopping just short of the hilt, twitching madly.
The force of the impact knocked me off-balance and ripped my right hand free of the vines. With a short cry, I fell to my right, dragging the now-dead spider along with me; it had lost its grip on the vines. I landed heavily on my side on the platform, right next to Fae. The Skullwalltula erupted into blue flames as its legs curled up and a heart berry floated down beside me. I shuddered from the pain of the impact.
"Fae?" called a voice from below. Leron. "Where are you? Are you all right?"
"Probably up higher," Artemis answered. "I can't believe that idiot dragged her along while we were still talking! He has no idea how to treat a lady."
"You're the one with no idea how to treat a lady, Arty."
"What would you know? You're a perpetual kid. You don't even know what a lady is!"
"A girl."
"A woman, Leron, a woman."
"But Fae isn't a woman," Leron said, sounding confused. "She's a fairy."
"For the love of Nayru, Leron," Artemis exclaimed, "do you even know what a woman is?!"
"A grown-up who isn't a man. Grown-ups are taller than Kokiri."
"No, grown-ups are not always taller than Kokiri! Did it never occur to you that a fairy could be a grown-up too?!"
I would be willing to bet they had forgotten about us again. I stopped listening to them and forced myself into a sitting position. My left arm was covered in bug juice and probably bug poison, too. Was everything we encountered going to poison me? I turned to Fae, who was lying motionless on the wooden platform floor. I scooted over to her and leaned down, releasing my sword so that I could reach for her. She looked so pitiful all bruised like that. She had tried to stop a charging arachnid more than ten times her size to protect me, and she had done it without hesitation. What an amazing girl.
I pulled out one of the heart berries I had in my pocket and ripped it apart, squeezing a piece of it above her slightly open mouth, allowing the juice to trickle down her throat. She swallowed involuntarily and then gasped, coming back to consciousness with a start. I let out a relieved sigh. I really hoped she wasn't poisoned.
"Wha? Fire?" she said, sounding confused and groggy. "Are…you all right?"
"I'm fine, or at least better off than you," I assured her, picking her up in my cupped hand and holding out another heart berry piece to her. She took it and proceeded to devour it more rapidly than I thought she would have been capable. Instantly she was back to full alertness. She turned her face up to me with a relieved smile.
"I'm glad you are all right," she let me know.
I grinned back, despite the pain of me slamming into the ledge suddenly attacking me. "Me too. I'm glad you're okay, Fae." I set her down, picked up my sword, sheathed my sword, and stood up as I continued to look at her. "You're a tough girl."
She launched herself up into the air and hovered in front of my face, grinning. "Thank you," she responded. Then she saw my juice-and-possibly-poison-covered arm. Her eyes widened and she flew over to it, scanning it up and down in a worried hurry. I felt a tinge of something I couldn't quite place at her concern for me; whatever it was, it felt good but at the same time embarrassing.
"I hate to say this," I said suddenly, causing her to spin in the air to face me, "but I think it might be a good idea to get Artemis's help, since it's quite likely that both of us got poisoned by the stupid spider." I made a face. "The sheer number of poisonous things may make going it without an antidote or Artemis rather difficult."
She twisted her mouth into a half-frown, glancing from my arm to the fairy-light down below and back again. Watching her beautiful purple eyes, I could almost see her weighing the pros and cons of taking Artemis with us. She flew around in a little circle, head in her hands. Apparently the choice of being poisoned or dealing with the red fairy was not an easy one. I couldn't say I blamed her for that – I had known the arrogant little man for less than a few hours and already I didn't like him, but she had known him for considerably longer and was the one who was the target of his…er…affections.
"There might be another way…" she murmured under her breath. Wow, I had no idea she hated him that much. For her sake, maybe we should see how far we can get without Leron's partner.
Continued in part two…