Chapter 2

Link walked through the interior of the Deku Tree slowly, staying on his toes. His sword and shield were drawn, ready to fight if the need arose, which it most certainly would. Not that he had ever thought about it, but the inside of the Deku Tree was nothing like he would have expected. It was far less organic and more like a built structure. It had doors, ladders, even torches that seemed to be lit eternally, but they didn't burn the tree. He turned to Navi.

"Do you have any idea why the structure is like this?" Navi seemed puzzled.

"What do you mean, it's like that naturally." "How?" "It just is" Navi snapped back.

"Some help you are." Link said back. He looked down at the floor and saw and giant web over a hole in the floor. He Turned to Navi again.

"Are there spiders in here?" he asked.

"There shouldn't be." Navi said. But if the Deku Tree is sick, then there might be."

Link shuddered. He didn't like spiders, not even small ones. He started to wonder if there really were still spiders here. He hoped there weren't. They continued through the labyrinth of ladders and doors. Link passed thru one of the strange doors that opened themselves when you stood before them.

"Look out" Shouted Navi but Link was already prepared to shield himself against the projectile that was flying toward him. It was a nut. It hit his shield and exploded in a blinding flash.

"What was that" Yelled Link.

"It must have been a Scrub Link!" She exploded into a frenzy. "There are Scrubs in the Great Deku Tree! That's horrible!"

"Calm down, calm down. How do I stop it?" Another nut hit his shield and exploded. Navi started to think.

" If you get too close to it then it will burrow underground" Navi explained. "Not helping!" Link yelled back.

"Wait, Link!" If you push against the nut when it hits your shield it will bounce back!"

"Okay" Link prepared himself and deflected the nut. The scrub was hit by it and ran around the room franticly screaming "Twenty-Three is Number One" "Twenty-three is Number One" until link caught it. It only sat there saying "Twenty-Three is Number One" "Twenty-Three is Number One" and scurried quickly to its hole and disappeared.

"What was that?" Link asked. "I think it might have been a code or password." Navi Replied. "Why was it telling it to me?"

"Scrubs tend to not think very much when their lives are in danger."

"Yeah, let's keep going." Link continued to make his way through the tree when he found himself at the top looking down at the room he had come in. The door locked behind him.

"Why did he lock the door?!" Link cried.

"I think the Deku tree is trying to guide us to the right place." Navi Said.

"Now what?" asked Link.

Navi flew down into the entry chamber and then flew up again. "Well, you're not going to like this."

"What?" "I think there's a room down there, beneath that web covering the hole in the floor. But the only way to break it is the jump from here and hope it snaps."

"You're kidding."

"I said you weren't going to like it" Link looked down again. That fall would probably kill him if he missed, but he had no choice, he could stay up there forever and hope the door would open again or take the chance and jump.

He jumped.

The web broke and he started the fall through a long shaft that went deeper and deeper into the Tree. At the bottom he hit water and it broke his fall. He surfaced from the water, gasping for air as he grasped the edge of a dry platform. The water went quite deep here. Link thought, I wonder how much further into the earth it goes? He pulled himself up onto the platform and sat there for a few minutes, and creeping snickering sounds came from all around him. Link looked at what appeared to be a grate on the wall and water was passing through it, but the water was quite shallow around it.

Then Link noticed that on the grate there was a thing, almost blending in. It was a spider. Link leaped to his feet reflexively, and without thinking drew his sword and slew the creature. The creeping noises grew and grew until they were incredibly loud and swarms of spiders bigger that a man's fist came out of the grate. They covered the entirety of the shallow water and started climbing up the platform Link was standing on. He panicked, grabbed Navi in his hand and ran toward the water and dived into it.

He swam deep using Navi's glow to navigate, and saw a tunnel underwater. Up above, there was a sudden bright light, but he did not care to find what it was. He swam through it and emerged from the water in a very dimly lit room. Navi twisted to get out of Links grip and flew around frantically shaking the water off.

"What were you thinking?" She shouted at Link.

"Those spiders would have killed us if I hadn't done something"

"And the solution was to take me and hold me under the water to nearly drown me?"

"No, but we escaped. Look, this room is safer. No sooner than he had said it a dozen projectiles went whizzing past his head. "Shoot." Link said as he dived again to avoid them.

He swam as close to the edge as he could under the water, and then pulled himself onto the platform and swung his shield around to avoid getting hit by the projectiles. Then he got to his feet and charged the Scrubs that were attacking him and deflected a nut back at each of them. They shrunk back into their holes.

Link walked up to a door on the far end of the chamber. In the water, there was a noise but Link paid no attention to it. It stood there locked, but there were words on it and they glowed. "Look, the door is set to open only when the proper words are spoken." Said Navi.

Link thought for a moment. He remembered the Scrubs in the chamber, and then what the other had said earlier. "Twenty-three is number one" He said, and the door opened and then closed behind them as they entered.

A figure came out of the water behind them. Link did not notice it.

The chamber that Link entered appeared all but empty. A cold mist covered the ground. There was nothing on the walls to see or anywhere else he looked. He walked around the room a few times and found nothing on the ground. Then he turned to the door and found that it was locked, and nothing he did could open it. He despaired. Trapped in a empty room... He heard something. It came from the one place he did not even think of... he looked up.

"Spiders," Link said, "Why did it have to be spiders?"

On the ceiling of the chamber there was a giant monster, half spider and half scorpion and with half the amount of eyes you would expect. Well, actually less than that, it appeared to only have one eye. To Links utter surprise it spoke.

"Who goess there?" The Spider asked. It spoke again without even getting a response.

"Iss it a nassty invader that triess to take away our homess?"

It jumped down from the ceiling and caused tremors to quake through the ground momentarily. "Iss it Delisscioss?"

Link fought against the fear and drew his sword. The spider struck at him with its powerful tail and Link rolled out of the way, then leaping up and striking it with his sword. The blow glanced off of the mighty arachnid and he stumbled back. He dodged just in time to avoid another powerful attack from the spider. This continued for a long while, without effect, until Link finally broke off his attack and ran for the edge of the room.

"It's not working, I can't hurt it!" Link screamed at Navi.

"Um..." the fairies mind raced, trying to think of anything else that might have an effect on the creature. The spider turned and started to crawl towards Link.

"Link, the eye!" Navi said suddenly. "It might be vulnerable in the eye!"

Link looked around, but he could see no way to possibly strike the eye, being very high off the ground the floor was clear of rocks and loose objects. The spider was very close now. Link pushed himself against the back wall, unable to do anything else. Then suddenly, there was a shout, and three small things flew through the air and struck the spider, and the spider then turned around, and crawled angrily back toward the entrance again.

"Anotther Onne?" the spider hissed. "Now theree are two tassty mealss for me."

"Link, get ready!" the other person said. "Mido?" Link yelled back, what..." "Hurry before this thing kills me!"

Link ran into action, rolling under the spiders legs and coming out in front of it. A flurry of seeds was shot and one struck the spider in the eye, and it fell to the ground heavily. Link slashed the eye over and over. An awful spray of sticky goop splurged out, covering Link. He did not cease until the creature ceased to move. In its death, the spider started to burn in an ominous blue fire from its bowels. Limbs and other flesh fell onto the ground till it had been burned to ashes.

"Look Link, the creature was created of magic!" Navi explained. This must have been the curse that the Great Deku Tree talked about!" Link barely paid attention to her.

"Mido, what are you doing here?" Link asked. "Look, I don't want to be held responsible for your dyeing. Not while I'm in charge." Nobody put you in charge... Link thought. But instead he said; "Thanks for saving me. Come on, let's get out of here."

A voice suddenly spoke, coming from all around them. "Mido, you have served your purpose, now exit thru this portal." A blue glow appeared on the ground in the middle of the chamber. "It will take you back outside. I have something to discuss in private with Link."

An expression of anger ran on to Mido's face, but he said nothing, he just walked to the light with his head low. The light enveloped him, and then he was gone.

"Link," The Deku Tree started in a slow faint voice, "In the beginning of our world, there was death. Darkness. Desolation. Not until the three Great Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore came was there anything in the world.

With her mighty power, Din carved the land, and gave it shape. Nayru, spread her wisdom upon the world, giving it law. Farore, with her courage, brought life to the land. This is how the world came to be. Indeed, I was the first living being to bear witness to the created earth. Out of my bowels the Kokiri were created, to tend to the earth, and keep it green. Also in the land, there were Gorons, dwellers of the mountains, and the Zoras that made their homes in the waters and the Hylian people also, who dwelled wherever they went.

After all these things were made so, the Goddesses departed into the heavens from which they came. But they left a great and terrible thing from whence they departed. The power of the Gods, the Triforce.

It is said that if a man with an evil heart touches the Triforce that the world would fall into calamity forever. But it is said also that if a man with a pure heart touches the power, the world would exist thereafter in eternal peace. The race of Hylia placed a seal on the power, so that no man, good or evil, would ever take it.

With three Keystones did they seal it, and hid them where no one would ever find them. But one man seeks to take the Golden Power for himself. Of his evil ambitions, there is no bound, indeed, so great it was that he discovered this forest haven and sought to take from me the first key to the sealed realm.

He could not force it from me in all his power, but he weakened me greatly. But I have to confess that I have not told the entire truth to thee." Link just listened carefully. "While I indeed told you to enter and break the curse the man set upon me, but it was for naught, I was doomed even before you began."

"No!" Cried Link. "You'll die? How can you just leave all of us alone?"

"You will find a way. I trust in my children. Alas, my true purpose was to affirm that ye were ready to take on a great task. Ye have proven thyself. Therefore, I trust thee with an artifact of great importance, the thing that the man desired to take from me most greatly. This is the Kokiri Stone, of the three keys to the sacred realm. Hide it secret, guard it safe. The watchful eyes of evil shall seek to take it from Ye. Ye must leave here, if the forces of evil have discovered this place once, they shall try to enter again. For the safety of the haven you must leave."

"Leave... but all of my friends!" "If you truly care for their wellbeing, you will not stay. Your presence here is a danger to them."

"But where will I go?" Link asked.

"There is a great castle to the north. Go there, and find Zelda, the princess. There ye will receive further guidance. I have foreseen it. You must promise. Promise you will leave."

Link sat there trying to come to terms with the thought of leaving. Leaving behind everything and everyone he knew. But he knew in his heart that what the Great Deku Tree said was true. He would have to leave for their safety. "I-. I promise, Great Deku Tree."

" Good, Good. Soon, I will pass into another life. Do not grieve. It is natural that these things come to pass. Even as everything is born, it is as soon destined to die." The Deku Tree's speech started to slow. "Navi, accompany Link. See that he finishes his task. That is my final order to thee." The blue light began to glow even brighter, until it filled the whole room.

"Great Deku Tree!" Cried Navi. Link and Navi were suddenly blinded. When they recovered, they were standing outside before the Deku Tree. "Good... bye... Navi..."

And with that, the Deku Tree had spoken his last words.