Chapter 2: Unwelcome Discovery
Extracting the Contamination Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Title Theme" - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Hopeless Desire" - Final Fantasy X OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).
"The Awful Night" - Dynasty Warriors V OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).
"Hunter of the Dark" - Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep OST. Scene 3 (First Half).
"Boss Clear" - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).
Link of the Kokiri Forest.
An outcast in the very place he has lived for the past eleven years of his young life for, in his youthful life throughout the forest, he has lived without a guardian fairy. In his time throughout, his one and only friend – a popular Kokiri by the name of Saria – raises him, looks after him and even bonds with him. Though eternally grateful for his close companion's support, the young Link's world is shaken awake by the appearance of a new guardian fairy by the name of 'Navi'.
Having been sent by the Kokiri Forest's god-like figure, the 'Great Deku Tree', Navi informs Link of his sudden summoning by the forest spirit. Though unwilling to believe it in his negative fears, he makes the leap forward and is requested by the supernatural tree to enter his very domain to end a curse put on him. Though just a boy and one with a notorious reputation for terrible cowardice Link, left with virtually no option left, chooses to undertake the Great Deku Tree's quest.
This is the beginning of a seven year long odyssey...
Scene 1
Darkness.
That was the first thing that went through Link's mind when entering the Great Deku Tree's mouth.
"Link!"
A bright blue light made him wince in response to its sudden brilliance, as if waking up for the first time in a ten hour nap. He brought his small child-like arms up as if in defence before realising the light was his new guardian fairy; Navi.
"Are you all right?"
"Y-Yeah...," he nodded in response, his sky-blue eyes slowly and finally adjusting to the light his little pixie provided. Now with a decent look over his surroundings, he narrowed his eyes forward and scanned them. He found a far off clearing with numerous platforms laid before him; one with strange amber-shaded vines and a second to his far-left containing a ladder to be climbed. In the centre of the area lay what seemed to be a spider-like web of all things. Link gulped down a load of saliva as he blinked down at it, wincing; thoughts of a horrifying arachnid-like creature creating that made him shudder, a cold feeling running down his spine.
He raised his blonde-haired head up to catch the sight of numerous small plant-like lifeforms dotted around the area; perhaps around three of them. His eyes narrowed at them all suspiciously.
I remember those, he thought.
A few months to a year ago he was once out on one of his many excursions with Saria in the Lost Woods and, while there, discovered these things. In his rampant curiosity, Link opted not to listen to her wise advice and bent toward one of them to inspect it.
In the attempt, he nearly lost his arm.
Since then he had grown wary of any flora within the Lost Woods or, indeed, the Kokiri Forest itself.
What was it Saria called them?
"Deku... Baba...?"
"How did you know that?"
Navi's sudden interruption caused him to widen his similarly cerulean eyes up to face her; she hovered over him curiously, her delicate wings flapping very slowly. Though he could not see her face behind the bright, blue bulbous body she inhabited, he imagined her frowning down at him.
"Aha...," Link laughed half-nervously, rubbing the back of his green capped head as he did. "A friend of mine told me all about them."
"Saria huh?"
Dead on the mark, he thought.
He only smiled and nodded weakly in response as he turned his blue eyes downward, his tone a strange sense of melancholic.
"Yeah... Saria." He murmured back wistfully in his light smile. Navi's brief period of silence descended down upon the pair like a heavy footfall, leaving them wordless for a small duration. Finally however, the guardian fairy resumed her mission and re-opened her mouth.
"Come on!" She called as she turned her bouncy flight toward the vine wall ahead of them. Link briefly followed her via his eyesight before double-taking in the two Deku Babas on either side of the wall, suspicious. He also eyed the spider webbed hole directly in the middle of the wooden-like dungeon.
Maybe I shouldn't step over that, he thought.
So then what to do about the Deku Babas?
"This could be a good opportunity!"
Link's eyebrows shot up, almost as if suddenly sensing danger. Navi's interruption, though laced in seeming positivity, alarmed the little Kokiri.
"How about you test out that Kokiri Sword that Saria gave to you?"
Oh no, he thought.
Though the Deku Babas both remained relatively harmless in their dormant states, Link's anxiety grew regardless when Navi's suggestion reached his ears.
"U-Um s-sure..." He managed out in a concurring nod. Reaching up for the sheathed small-sword on his left shoulder the blonde boy fought back the urge to display his concern with a wince.
SHIIING
The small-sword made a forceful, tough sound as it was drew from its similarly small scabbard on the Kokiri's back, shining in the darkness of the cavern. Link forced down the lump of saliva that had gathered in the back of his mouth roughly, scratching his throat as it descended down to the pit of his stomach. His nerves inside were not kind; they tormented him endlessly as he slowly and, very carefully, approached the carnivorous plan.
Finally reacting to his presence, the Deku Baba growled as it came violently to life; with its own disgusting froth spitting from its mouth in all directions it suddenly lunged forward at him. Link's sky-blue eyes shot wide open before, instinctively, he brought his right arm up and the small Deku Shield Saria had so gracefully given him not mere minutes ago.
SMACK
Surprised by the little plant's impressive force behind its stationary strike, the Kokiri youth could only gasp as he was sent skidding half a mere millimetre; not far but far enough to send a message.
I can kill you if you're not careful, it said silently somehow.
Link's facial expression grimaced as he stared back at the seemingly scowling seedling.
I'm not cut out for this, he thought.
Why me?
"Come on! Fight back! Don't just stand there!"
Navi's umpteenth interruption made the listening boy frown deeper.
She's beginning to grate on my nerves, he pondered, briefly annoyed.
"Don't focus on her. Just do this. You can do it."
He tried to prove his half-measure of positivity by leaning his shaking body forward and stabbed his Kokiri Sword forward. The attack was poorly handled but struck true – the Deku Baba drew back its viridian head from its earlier assault with an accompanying squeal of pain, seemingly injured. Link's own child-like cerulean eyes widened and he couldn't help but draw his effort-pulled frown into a slow-growing prideful smile.
"I... I hurt it!"
The Deku Baba, with barely any warning, (as before) suddenly charged forward a second time.
Link's eyes widened yet again but, this time, in a show of shock.
Its slavering, carnivorous mouth managed to catch the youth's exposed sword-arm; the Kokiri orphan's breath caught in the back of his throat and, though he attempted to back-dash in evasion at the last second, the Baba was far too quick for him.
"Link!"
CLANG
Navi's call hovered past him; he scrunched his eyes shut in sudden, stinging pain. The poor boy used his free right fingers to grasp at his now-injured pale left arm, his right forearm still holding up the Deku Shield via its attached ulna grip. Not even noticing his weapon spinning out of his grip, his left palm remained opened in a claw-like formation as if to display the very agony which he endured. Thankfully now within a safe distance from the similarly wounded Deku Baba, Link opened one eye and forced a light smile through his sweat as he re-faced the flying Navi.
"I-I'm okay!" He called back over in response, his claim a half-lie.
Am I though, he thought.
His right eye re-opened to join his left and they wandered down to inspect his fresh lesion; marks of sharp teeth were dotted around the underside of his left forearm, blood very slowly seeping out from them.
Overall it didn't look too bad.
But it would probably already be infected.
Have to finish the job first, he thought.
Make certain it can't do it again.
The summoned outcast attempted to harden his concerned frown and bent down to pick up his previously spinning Kokiri Sword. Grabbing it with his infected left arm he gripped it tightly this time.
Come on, he thought, his young blood rising to a boil.
You might be my first real opponent and I might just be me...
… but I'm better than you think.
He let his ruminations drive him on in his slow stride forward. When Navi caught his seemingly heedless and foolish decision she opened her mouth for the second time to voice her fear. However, before she even could, her eyes widened beneath her cute little frame as she watched the suddenly agile boy suddenly leap to his right in swift evasion. The Deku Baba lunged at him as he approached just as they both expected and, acting on further instinct, Link finished his counter-attack with an assaulting jump attack. His effort-filled yell accompanied the excessive force with which he input into the small-sword he brandished so poorly beforehand.
The attack, this time, was well-strung and true.
The Deku Baba gave one final squeak of defeat and its body vanished from sheer existence, pulling back into the marshy, soft ground. A notable satisfying sound of finality excreted from the carnivore and, as it did, an item visibly spat up from its expiration.
Silence.
Link remained in his knelt down pose, his blue eyes narrowed and his two hands both gripped on the hilt of his descended small-sword.
"Wow..." Navi mouthed out, visibly impressed by the display of effort. "I didn't think you had it in you."
Satisfied by his new guardian fairy's words of praise, Link couldn't help but let a genuine smile cross his rosy features as he slowly drew his body back up to a standing stance.
"Th-Than-" he began in his smile before double-taking down to his lower left, light-blonde eyebrows rising up with his new discovery. Navi slowly hovered forward, also curious, tracing his gaze, only to find the source of his oh-so-curious stare. "What is-?"
"Oh, right," the little blue pixie began as she briefly hovered over the youth's green-garbed shoulder. "That's a Deku Nut," she introduced as she nodded her bulbous body down toward it. Link, at first, exchanged his blinking glance with her before resuming his gaze down on the seed. "It's mainly used as a diversionary tactical weapon – it creates a blinding flash that can allow you to escape if you're being chased."
"Ohhh..." Link murmured on out as he tilted his frowning head down at the little dark-brown shaded nut below him.
That would come in very handy, he thought to himself.
"They can also be used to open up an enemy's defences by temporarily stunning them," Navi wisely advised. "You'd be surprised how useful they can really be for being just a little seed."
"Huh..."
You can say that again, he thought, before soon bending down to pick up his very first Deku Nut.
Resisting the urge to just turn around and leave Link had, by now, descended deep into the dungeon of the Deku Tree's insides. Having finally discovered an incredible wooden invention that allowed this progress, Navi deemed it 'the Fairy Slingshot'.
Seemingly an invention crafted eons ago by the Great Deku Tree himself for use in defence. While it lacked the destructive power of a traditional projectile such as an arrow it contained enough strength to send any attackers packing.
A fitting weapon for the Kokiri.
While utilising this Fairy Slingshot, Link delved so deep into the Great Deku Tree's insides that he discovered some unsettling revelations.
Having descended down to what seemed to be far bottom-left of the interior of the dungeon, Link could only stare in half-shock, half-horror at the sight that lay before him.
Two ruined spherical flesh-like oval shapes lay on the ground not far from his current position. Shaking his Kokiri small-sword of Skulltula guts that has gathered from his earlier dispatching, he slowly shook it before soon sheathing the small-sword back into its scabbard. His eyes watched the two egg-like pieces laying in the centre of the arena-like area, unsure and wary.
Strangely... they looked dead.
What could have caused such a thing?
And more importantly what were they?
Even more curious was a corpse laying next to the poor pair; Link's eyes widened for what felt like the umpteenth time and he held back from gasping as he caught sight of it.
A fallen and, similarly ruined, corpse.
Instinctively, Link brought up his free left hand to rest on his mouth, his eyes wincing in their narrowing at the horrific sight before him. Seemingly defiled in such a way as the eggs were – almost as if they were spoiled like meat – the cadaver seemed to be like its Skulltula brethren; arachnid in nature.
It looked like something out of a horror story that Mido would tell around a campfire to scare him.
Though small in stature its body suggested that of a predator, even if a larvae; its two legs lay with multiple lesions and what seemed to be cuts across its body.
Could be injuries in battle?
Or maybe even just rot...
Link's hardening thoughts were seemingly confirmed when he caught sight of its crusty and similarly ruined eye in the centre of its poor lifeless body.
In spite of the fact it would undoubtedly be a ruthless enemy... the little Kokiri couldn't help but feel pity for the fallen creature.
"You okay?"
The little blonde boy was yanked back out of his ever-constant pondering by his companion, Navi; he blinked, initially surprised by her sudden interjection. Soon however, he regained his ever patient smile and nodded back at her.
"Good, let's keep moving," the little blue fairy called on out as she about-turned mid-flight to continue hovering forward. "The faster we do this, the better; we need to help the Great Deku Tree."
He couldn't agree more.
And yet... somehow, he thought...
A dreading feeling filled the very telling reflections within his head.
The little Kokiri, however, picked up his pace regardless to follow his fairy faithfully, frowning forward forthwith as he did so. When the pair turned a corner to approach what looked to be another blocked path – a Skulltula's web. This time he didn't even need Navi's help; with an eager turn of his eyes he clocked lit torch lying next to the web, almost as if a hint in and of itself. Reaching into his supplies for a long Deku Stick, the blonde youth allowed his tiny tongue poke on out out of his mouth in a careful display of concentrated effort; he leaned the long wooden stick toward the controlled flame.
Navi about-turned in her flight, opening her mouth. "Link we have to-" she began before seemingly widening her little eyes at him. She watched him set the Deku Stick he carried alight and held back from gasping aloud in awe. Acting further on his own instinct, the young Link pulled his now alight Deku Stick and kept his cerulean eyes narrowed as he moved carefully toward the Skulltula web. Leaning the alight twig carefully forward he winced as it finally turned the web alight in a brilliant show of flames, red flashing across the watching pairs' faces.
Wrenching his own attention away from the incredible sight however, he tossed the lit Deku Stick down to the ground before stamping on it thusly with his brown boot, eyes narrowed. As expected, the small but dangerous fire was successfully put out and Link couldn't help but smile, satisfied at his effort. Though he didn't turn to face the silent Navi he imagined her staring at him.
It filled him with a quiet sense of pride.
"U-Um that was..."
Link's eyebrow rose and he turned his head, his attention finally gained.
"I was just about to tell you to do that." The disgruntled little guardian fairy muttered as it bounced forward in its slow flight. Link's initially prideful smile dropped in response and he couldn't help but sigh through his nose as they walked toward the small crawl-able hole.
So is this what she's going to be like, he thought.
"Let's hope this is over sooner rather than later then."
When the pair eventually emerged from the little space Link took quick note of his immediate surroundings; a large block containing a strange symbol. He narrowed his blue eyes at it as he examined it from the distance he stood at, finding it odd.
It looked like... a snake staring at him somehow.
Three dormant Deku Baba lay in eerie silence next to the Skulltula web in the centre of the platform, almost as if keeping watch in some way. Link's eyes narrowed down at it.
All right, he thought.
That's where I have to go.
But how to...?
Turning his eye on the large dark-brown block to his left he strode on over and, without even a word to Navi, began to push his small arms into the block. With effort, the youth grunted as he barely managed to drive the stone off the platform.
THUD
With that, Link put on a brief smile of satisfaction; clocking the lit torch ahead he dropped down to the fallen block below him and pulled out another Deku Stick.
"Wait, Link!"
In spite of Navi's ever-concerned calls the little Kokiri proved to plan ahead and, leaping across with a lit twig, Link very carefully hovered the stick downwards. Barely touching the sticky Skulltula web with its fire he immediately pulled the twig back and, just as before, stuck his Kokiri boot down on it to put the controlled flame out. Craning his neck forward, Link raised a light blonde eyebrow at the drop below him, curious.
It didn't look too far.
Indeed, he could even spot what seemed to be a pool of water that could break his fall.
Of all things though; to get wet?
Stop focusing on trivial things, he thought.
You have to help the Deku Tree.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Link turned his initially curious frown up to match Navi's similarly inquisitive azure light before he finally put on a smile and nodded up at her. As if prodded on by her words, the little Kokiri youth set his courage and leapt forward. Scrunching his eyes shut tight, he held in his breath as he lay his two small arms to his side, as if to help break his fall somehow.
SPLASH
This time he opened his mouth in a wide-eyed gasp; the cold water hit him like a slap in the face. Though shivering he forced his body forward to swim ahead using his arms and legs, soon making it to the marshy ground's surface as before.
I hate swimming, he thought.
As if to respond to his inner ruminations, when he ascended from the pool of water, his eyes widened at his next discovery.
Three Deku Scrubs sat in three similarly separate patches of grass.
Almost as if sensing his very presence, the trio of Scrubs shot up with similar-sounding squeaks, looking around for the interruption to their peace before soon double-taking in the Kokiri's direction.
Oh no, he thought.
Reaching for his Deku Shield, Link instinctively bounced the first Deku Nut the Scrub in the middle shot at him first.
SMACK
Link's eyes widened in surprise when he found its reaction a curious one indeed; it gave one squeak of pain before suddenly shooting up from its patch of grass. Covered in what seemed to be a shade of blue to signify its stature in stun, Link's eyes narrowed at it; it continually squeaked now, as if to confirm its temporary defeat.
What now?
The immediate threat of the other two Deku Scrubs made the boy roll to his right in evasion, gasping as he did so. Though he evaded the first Deku Nut from the left, the right one made its mark and hit his shield. He grunted as he knelt down, sent drifting backward across the marshy ground. He grit his teeth as he watched the nut fly back toward the unwary Scrub.
SMACK
A second time Link was treated to a stunning sight indeed; the second Deku Scrub leapt up, shaded in blue, to squeak continually to signify its defeat just as the last one did. The little Kokiri narrowed his eyes at the pair before slowly about-turning his green-capped head on the last one, his body leant to the side as he did.
Was this a password of some kind?
"Link!"
Navi's late call floated in and out of his small, pointed ears; as before, the leaning Link shot up his Deku Shield to bounce back the third Deku Nut.
SMACK
This time he approached the Deku Scrub with the similarly flying Deku Nut, blue eyes narrowed. When the little shrub was struck by its own attack, it squeaked in pain before suddenly leaping up out of its home and running off, presumably for safety. Opting to prevent its return to form, Link kept his eyes narrowed as he stepped onto the patch of grass it used before, standing guard. Navi widened her eyes behind her bulbous body as she watched before slowly hovering over to join him.
When the Deku Scrub finally returned however, Link raised a curious eyebrow as it approached, presumably to speak to him.
This'll be a first, he thought.
"How did you know of our secret?! How irritating!"
It had a strange squeaking mouse-like voice that suited its similarly small constitution.
"Secret...?"
"It's so annoying I'm going to reveal the secret of Queen Gohma to you!"
Link's eyes widened.
Queen Gohma?
"In order to administer the coup de grâce to Queen Gohma, strike her while she's stunned."
Is this thing lying to me, he thought.
Before he could even question the strangely talkative Deku Scrub for further answers however, it spoke one final time.
"Oh, Queenie...," it began wistfully before squeaking one last time as it hopped away in comical retreat. "Sorry about that!"
Link was left staring away after the running Scrub, his ocean eyes narrowed half-curiously, half-unsure.
"What do you think?"
Navi's sudden interruption made him raise his eyebrows as he turned to his left to face her above him before soon sighing through his nose as he re-faced the front.
"I don't know...," he thought aloud as he watched the Deku Scrub retreat into the marshy ground, never to be seen again. "For all I know it could be..."
"Lying?"
Link couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Y-Yeah..."
"Well before you think any of that... check this."
For the second time he raised a curious eyebrow skyward as he about-turned on his brown boot; finding his guardian fairy hovering over the wall next to one of the patches of grass he blinked at her. Soon however he traced her stare.
A single human skull lay on the ground below what seemed to be a very crude series of scratching against the wall. His attention grabbed, Link narrowed his eyes at it and strode ahead slowly to frown forward at it.
TWENTY THREE IS NUMBER ONE
GOHMA – NO ESCAPE
Link's eyes widened and he couldn't help but silently gulp to himself. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he compared both the skull and the legible words written on the wall.
If I walk through that door, he thought, his eyes very slowly wandering over to the tan vertical door to his left.
Will I end up like that too?
"I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about," Navi spoke up, almost as if hearing his silent concerns and fears. Her cute blue light flitted over, leaving sparks in her wake as she rejoined him at his side. "I mean I've heard worse."
Link almost spluttered, unable to believe the little pixie's words. "Worse?"
"Well... yeah; just stories from the Great Deku Tree, y'know." She clarified, bouncing very lightly in the air with her words. The listening Kokiri opted to leave the matter alone, merely shaking his wet blonde head in response before finally approaching the last door in the dungeon.
I know why she said that, he thought as he stared hard at the door.
Harder than he'd stared at anything.
"She thinks I'll give up."
His thoughts were almost confirmed when he discovered the usually talkative guardian fairy remaining silent, watching him as he stood gaining his resolve.
She knows I'm faltering, he pondered.
The youth shook his head.
If you can do this...
… you can see Saria again.
Thoughts of his friend – his only real friend – drove him on. Not Navi. Not doing a good deed.
Not even helping the Great Deku Tree.
I'm a horrible person, he thought.
But it doesn't matter.
"Either way... I'm gonna do this."
–
2
The vertical door slammed shut loudly behind him as he entered; Link narrowed his eyes forward at the marshy ground left before him.
A narrow, small corridor marked off with a small hill, almost as if a warning of some kind.
When he stepped forward in his normal careful manner, the little Kokiri scanned the marshy ground beneath him and the fog that encircled it.
This must be the heart of the Great Deku Tree, Link thought.
His small, pointed ears soon picked up the echoing sound of something scratching against a wall, almost as if climbing it somehow.
"Link do you hear t-?"
SCRAPE-SCRAPE-SCRAPE
"Yeah...," the boy murmured out, his blue eyes scanning the area around him. It looked every much like a battle arena; only four pillars stood in symmetrical sense before him, allowing him room to move and breathe. His eyes, instinctively, were drawn up to catch movement at the corner of his field of vision.
And when he rose his eyes skyward they widened.
What looked to be a spider-like creature – perhaps a huge version of the smaller larvae he encountered – stopped its climbing the ceiling to turn its one eye on him. The dark-green coloured pupil of its eye shot to its right as if to look for any more interruptions to its rest and then to its left before, very soon, ending at its centre. When it did, the pupil seemed to roll up into the back of its eye before finally ascending back into place; it blinked at the horror-expressed Link, almost as if waiting for him to move.
SCRAPE-SCRAPE-SCRAPE
Pulled out of his staring reverie, Link took an instinctive step back, his blue eyes widened as he watched the Skulltula-like creature suddenly drop down to the ground. The fog around their ankles shot up between them and Link gasped as he rose his two free arms to form a defensive 'X' around his face, wincing at the huge form of his new opponent before him.
CRASH
The ground seemed to almost shake in response to its deceptively massive size; Link's fears began to grow when he found himself staring dead ahead at its monstrous form. What seemed to be its two arms lifted up into the air as it screeched down at him, covered in what seemed to be an armour of some sense. A third appendage in the centre towards it back seemed to be defenceless for some strange reason. Regardless of studying it however, Link found his fear and apprehension growing at the second.
There is no possible way I can stop this thing, he thought.
"I will die here."
Parasitic Armored Arachnid – Gohma
SCREECH
Link gasped as he suddenly rolled his body to his sharp right in evasion – the huge spider-like monster slashed at him with one of its long arms. He skidded across the foggy ground and his eyes snapped 'round to his far-left to catch it leaping up high into the sky after him.
"In the name of the Great Deku Tree...! Why is so quick?!"
In spite of his thoughts, Link gasped a second time as he gave yet another evasive roll, this time dead ahead. He just barely managed to avoid the arachnid's plunging attack; when it crash-landed, its claw stuck deep into the foggy ground below it and it growled angrily as it attempted to pull itself from it. Link, meanwhile, continued to gasp for air as he flattened his skinny body against one of the four pillars in the room, having found a hiding place.
"Link!"
Navi's hissing, quietened whisper made him very suddenly snap his eyes in her direction to his top right, still listening for the growling beast.
"It looks as if that's the reason the Great Deku Tree's sick!" The little fairy claimed as she hovered just above his shoulder. Link allowed his blue eyes to scan slowly back over to stare at the still hampered aphid. Sweat ran down his brow as he watched it, a special kind of anxiety gained from watching it. "Gohma; if I remember correctly... the only time it's vulnerable... is when its eye is red!"
Its eye?
I should remember that, he thought.
As if acting on the pairs' quietened words however, Gohma finally and suddenly yanked its claw out. Link's eyes widened in apprehension as he watched it scan its green eye around in presumable search for the youth; unable to find him, it instead opted to turn around and march along the ground toward the wall.
"What is it doing...?"
SCRAPE-SCRAPE-SCRAPE
Along the wall it stuck its claws deep across the surface before, finally, reaching its much-loved ceiling. The scared little Kokiri watched it unsurely and carefully, his brow furrowed.
"Link, I think it's-!"
Almost as if listening to the very pair, Gohma dropped its third appendage down to face the ground below it and its green eye soon turned red, rolling up to the back of its head.
Is it straining in effort for something?
Oh no, Link thought, his mind soon realising what Navi was trying to warn him about.
First one, then two and, finally, three eggs all dropped down to the foggy ground safely. Link's eyes widened when he caught them and how familiar they looked to the ruined ones he once encountered.
What in the name of the Lost Woods are those?
As if acting on his very innate fears, the eggs very quickly hatched and very small versions of what seemed to be Gohma itself leaped out of them.
"Oh Saria...," Link murmured out as he watched the Gohma children immediately scan the area, presumably in search for him. "Help me..."
They almost seemed to sniff the air of all things; catching up on his scent, all three of the Gohma larvae snapped their heads in his direction.
Oh no, he thought.
"Link!"
CRASH
Queen Gohma herself smashed the ground in the centre between her babies, turning her head in the larvae's direction. The three Gohma Larvae took off with surprising speed for two legged creatures; all toward the pillar where Link hid behind. His mind jumped between leaping out and making a desperate attack or just simply running; the poor frightened Kokiri couldn't come to an arrangement.
"Link! You have to do something!"
Navi's constant reminders didn't help any either.
Finally, the spider-like babies made their destination clear; two of them poked their large eyes 'round to stare at the similarly wide-eyed boy. With little to no fear, they both bounded at him from his two sides; Link gasped as he jumped forward in sudden movement to avoid it. The two Gohma Larvae squealed as they smashed painfully against one another, seemingly incapacitating them both.
At least that's two dealt with, he thought.
As if to laugh at his efforts however, a third larva poked its head 'round the corner and, by the time it did, the Queen herself smashed the ground on his left and the pillar's right.
Two sides blocked.
Nice, he thought sarcastically.
With very little option left, Link finally unsheathed his Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield, blue eyes watching the pair of spiders carefully. The third larva was first to move, ever eager to devour its prey; it leapt for him but, acting quickly, Link managed to spin around in half-evasion, half-counter-attack. His eyes narrowed as he did so; a horizontal slash rending the air (and the poor baby's single eye) as his boots glided across the ground in an agile fashion. The little Gohma Larva could only squeak out once in what seemed to be a pained effort as it fell to the ground.
Link watched it carefully breathing its last.
He had killed Deku Baba before and the odd plant... but this was the first time he had actively killed something like this.
That felt... good, he thought.
Suddenly he felt very guilty for his thinking.
SCREECH
Link's eyes widened out of his reverie; he snapped them 'round to find the Queen Gohma herself glaring over at him in what seemed to be hatred for what it had witnessed.
"Mommy's very angry..."
The large arachnid leapt for him, left claw held back; though he attempted to back-dash in evasion it seemed to anticipate that and chased on after him.
Its speed was incredible for its size, he thought.
SMASH
Link gasped as his vision was assaulted by flying dirt, kicked up by the Queen's left clawed arm; it used its right to collide roughly with his raised Deku Shield. He gasped from the sudden strength she commanded; enough even to knock the sturdy wooden armour from his grip; Link's eyes widened as he was felled to the ground on his back. He reached out with his now free right arm to catch it flying away from him vainly.
CRASH
The little Kokiri held back from screaming as he swerved his blonde-haired head back 'round to stare up. The large arachnid pinned him down with its incredible size and, finding only his hands and arms moveable, Link struggled in frightened futility. Gohma screeched what seemed to be for the umpteenth time except, this time, it leaned down and placed its eye close to his face as if to further intimidate the youth. Link choked as he swerved his head away from its confrontational gaze, his eyes still watching it carefully. He could only stare however, his eyes slowly widening as he watched its front body open up to reveal a mouth; a horrifying set of jagged sharp teeth, covered in dripping drool.
It was like looking into the future somehow.
His body froze and, even though only his lower half of his body was paralysed, he couldn't move. His eyes remained widened as he stared directly into the maw of the beast overlooking him.
This is it, he thought.
This is exactly how I will die.
"Just like I thought when I first walked in..."
A spark of blue made him snap out of his fixated stare however. Almost forgetting about his very predicament both Link and his attacker found themselves staring at the flying blue spark that interrupted their exchange. When he realised it was Navi, his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to call on the little blue fairy.
"N-No! Navi!"
Navi darted in and out of Gohma's vision and, using her extra arm to swipe at the quick little pixie. Endlessly Navi seemingly easily evaded the narrow-eyed Gohma and, finally with her patience at its end, the armoured Skulltula-like monster suddenly shot its open jaw forward and clamped her jagged teeth shut over the fast-flying Navi's form. Her blue light went extinct almost immediately and, when it did, Link's own similarly blue eyes widened.
–
3
GROWL...
SMASH
Queen Gohma widened its one good eye, green and all, at the sudden increase of power. The parasitic form watched the once defenceless boy it had been assaulting naught but moments ago; with a new look on his face he slammed his two small fists against the marshy, foggy ground. With strength that even he didn't seem to know he'd had, the little Kokiri stared darkly over at the spider-like creature as he marched slowly over.
Gohma's one eye widened when it caught an aura of what seemed to be power of Aegir origins coursing and visibly encircling his body. The blonde boy's initially hard-frowning face slowly curled into a light low smirk. His normally calm oceanic eyes were now an oppressive, antagonistic scarlet.
Though a predator by nature, Gohma couldn't help but feel unwary even at the sight of this new threat.
"Shin'ozo... Tomete Kureru..." Link finally spoke since his recent change; his voice had noticeably changed alongside the sudden strange strength increase; a strange almost demonic-like filter to it. Gohma listened, mainly with its body, as a spider would and couldn't believe the words with which he spoke.
Words of the fabled Sainted Three.
Words which, should by now, be extinct along with them.
What did they mean, exactly?
'Violence... is who I am'.
Fear within Gohma grew.
How could this be the same boy? The same one she had pinned down with her limbs so easily. The same Kokiri she had easily turned predator-to-prey for.
The mighty Queen didn't dare back down however – it narrowed its one emerald-green eye at him before suddenly screeching as it rose up its armoured arms at him threateningly. As it half-expected, the newly low-smirking Link merely continued his inevitable slow march forward, his aura of Aegir eating up the fog that curled 'round his brown boots.
Undeterred, Gohma growled once as she shot her left arm down to attack with, her warnings finished with.
SMASH
The watching Link shot up his small left arm and, seemingly disobeying physics itself, the very aura of power he inhabited blocked the spider's spiked arm. Queen Gohma's eye widened in alarm, watching the grinning Link broaden both his open-mouth smirk and his own eyes, as if almost to silently speak back to the staring Gohma.
Look at the difference between us now, the look said.
"HISSATSU!"
With a single effort-filled push, Link temporarily dropped his grin to smash his right fist directly into the screeching Gohma's eye.
SLAM
The former predator was sent careering through the air at a record pace – almost unwatchable. When it collided into one of the many pillars around the battle chamber, stone and rock dropped on top of the fallen creature and it seemed to struggle underneath it. Link, still pulsing with his aura of Aegir took his march toward the fallen creature slow and deliberate. Tossing an air-rolling Deku Nut into the air, the new form of the hard-faced Link began to cock his head to the side in his gradual-growing grin. Eventually, as if acting on instinct, the rubble around the pillar exploded in a magnificent show of rocks and fire.
SCREECH
Queen Gohma emerged, as before, this time seemingly furious with him. It stomped over the fallen debris before it to similarly march over to stand over the little Kokiri imposingly. Link's expression did not falter; even in the face of a much larger opponent. When its eye turned crimson red in its hardened stare, Link allowed the Deku Nut he tossed continually into the air to finally drop to the ground.
Time slowed down for the pair; Gohma's jagged teethed mouth screamed at the blonde youth hatefully and Link merely stared back in his toothy smirk.
FLASH
Gohma let out another squeal but this time of pain; the Deku Nut had landed and successfully stun the spider-like creature. It fell painfully to its rear, all limbs following it and its eye rolling around frantically as if in desperate search for something. Link chuckled lowly in a suggestive tone as he reached on his back for his weapon – at last – before tossed it expertly into the air and catching it to ready it.
Finally prepared to finish the job, the second side of the little Kokiri turned his grin into a hideous open-mouthed one, full with a murderous sense of glee as he shot the Kokiri Sword forward in a deft stab attack, coated in fire Aegir.
"Die!" He called out, finally speaking common tongue since his strange change. "MESSATSU!
Gohma let out a small series of pained and final screeches as it leapt its body up; a last and final act of instinct before, at last, it dropped to the ground. Link watched the blue fire that invariably engulfed the creature hungrily, his head held high in his contrastingly low grin. A small cough made the murderous little Kokiri widen his newly crimson eyes down at the dying and vanishing corpse of Gohma.
What was that, he thought.
As if to respond to his silent questions a little blue fairy leapt up from inside the fiery corpse and, almost as if in reaction, Link's scarlet eyes widened.
"That was horrible!" The little fairy exclaimed, seemingly a female voice, coughing as it shot up into the air. "And all to help you!"
When the newly freed and reawakened Navi turned her vision down to her new companion, she could only stare in uncertainty. Link dropped to his knees, gripping his head in a light gasp.
"Are-Are you all right?" She asked, this time much more softly as she hovered down to his level, her earlier annoyance seemingly vanished. When Link grunted once and re-raised his head up to open his eyes again and face her, his blue eyes stared back at her.
"Y-Yeah... I think so...," he murmured on out before he turned his eyes around the area, almost as if searching for something. "W-What... what happened?"
"I was hoping you could tell me!"
Link blinked as he swerved his head back 'round to stare unsurely at his guardian fairy, now bouncing back into the air as she usually did.
"Look at all this! You must have put Queen Gohma through the ringer!" She exclaimed in a strange sense of pride, her blue light focusing on the fallen debris of the pillar behind them. Link about-turned and widened his oceanic eyes at it in shock.
"There's no way I did that, surely?"
And yet there it was, almost as if to counter his very thoughts.
Maybe it was Gohma that did it?
So then how did I beat her?
So many questions... so little memory.
"I'm very proud of you!" She exclaimed as she flitted down to his examining eyes. "For a minute there I honestly thought we were both going to expire but you really pulled through!" She squeaked further in his unsure face. "I only wish I could have seen it..."
When she spoke, his eyes almost instinctively hovered back over to stare at the destruction at the pillar on his left. A chill ran up his spine as he watched it.
Maybe it was better you didn't, he thought silently to himself.
"Come on!" Navi exclaimed a third time, bouncing forward toward the artificial blue light that materialised before them. "Let's go back to see the Great Deku Tree!"