In Chapter 3 Link heads off to the Lost Woods. Here, he will face off against a few regular foes and then explore the Forest Temple. Link gets into a tough spot but manages to get out and face the Master of the Dungeon. Read on.
!Disclaimer: I do not own Nintendo, the series or characters. All I own is this story. Link, Zelda and all others are trademark of Nintendo!
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Chapter 3
It was almost noon when Link reached the Lost Woods. Link braced himself and took his Master Sword in his left hand, Hylian Shield on the right. Carefully he entered the Lost Woods. As soon as he stepped inside he heard the wind going through the leaves on the trees, giving off an eerie tune. As always there was a distinct lack of birds in the woods.
Link proceeded slowly through the woods. He felt as if he was being pulled by an unknown force. Link decided to go by his feelings and continued. After multiple turns (and being lost a couple of times) Link finally arrived at the Forest Temple. "Figures" said Link as he looked up at the Forest Temple. It had not changed much. The one side was still covered with ivy and in front of the Temple wolves were walking around.
"Here we go" Link said and ran towards the wolves. The two white wolves saw him and ran towards Link. The first wolf leapt into the air. Link ducked and slashed it in its stomach. The wolf fell behind Link struggling to get up. The other wolf raised itself on its legs and slashed out for Link. Link barely blocked the claws with his shield. The wolf fell to its feet and Link slashed it. The first wolf had regained its balance and slashed Link in the back. "Ah!" Link turned around and gave it another slash. The wolf dropped dead. Link focused on the other wolf and as the wolf tried to slash Link he put his sword up to block the attack. The wolf was pressing its attack and Link had to use both hands to hold the wolf at bay. "Aaaahhhhh!" In a single movement Link put all his strength in a single thrust and pushed the wolf back. While the wolf was stumbling to regain its balance, Link tilted his sword to a horizontal angle and pushed it into the wolf's stomach. The wolf dropped dead.
"Whew." Link said and sat down. His stomach was growling so he found his backpack and took his lunch; a couple of apples and a loaf of bread. "Truly a meal fit for a king" Link thought ironically and began to eat. While he ate he analyzed what Rauru had said. He figured that the other places had to be the Fire Temple at Death Mountain and The Water Palace at Lake Hylia. It was the best bet he had anyway. After his brief lunch Link ventured inside the Forest Temple. At first everything seemed to be the same as when he had been there last. But when Link looked closer something was amiss. He couldn't tell what though. There was spider web all around but after three years of standing in a dark forest, with no one coming in and out, spider web was only to be expected. But no matter how much Link looked, he couldn't put his finger on it.
Link shrugged and walked towards the elevator. The moment he stepped in he knew something was wrong. Iron bars came up on every side of the elevator. Link was trapped. He looked around for clues, when suddenly the elevator began to move. Link was helplessly being transported to the lower floor of the temple, unable to get out. When the elevator emerged into the room below Link saw what could be his way out. A golden switch on the far wall. "Ok. Let's take the shot" Link thought to himself. He grabbed his bow and took an arrow. He aimed held the arrow back… Tvang Link let go of the string and the arrow flew through the room and struck the switch right in the middle. "Bull's Eye!" shouted Link. The elevator stopped three meters above ground. The bars withdrew slowly.
"Oh oh." Link just realized his mistake. When the bars had left the platform he was standing on it would fall. Link had just time enough to grab hold of the bars. The platform fell and made a loud noise. Link looked down. Three meters below him on a stony floor, the wooden plate had splintered. "Phew. One more second and I would have…" he felt the upper wooden piece against his hands and the bars withdrawal that made him lose his grip. "…fallen." Link fell to the ground. "Ouch" Link said as he tried to get up again.
Finally, Link was standing again. He looked around in the room he had arrived in. The shape of the room resembled a large dome. The ceiling was 20 meters high at the highest point and about 70 meters in diameter. There were small patches of bushes all around the edge. Suddenly he saw something moving in the corner of his eye. He looked in its direction but there was nothing to see. He kept looking for it but couldn't see anything. Movement in the shadows. There it was again. Link grabbed his Master Sword and Hylian Shield and readied himself. But again there was nothing to see.
Then a sudden attack from behind. Link fell to the floor, twisting his body so he would land on his side. As he hit the ground he looked up at his attacker. It looked like a giant scorpion, only scorpions didn't grow to be 4 meters tall. It was dark green. Link backed away just in time to avoid a giant tail trying to sting him. The tail struck the ground only a foot away from Link, being stuck in the ground. Link got up on his feet and was just about to slash it with his sword, when the tail came flying up again. Link jumped out of the way rolling on the floor upon landing to get further away. Link got to his feet and had to avoid another attack. "I have to find his weak spot" Link thought. For the next couple of minutes Link avoided several attacks as well looking for a weak spot. Finally he found it. Whenever the scorpion would launch an attack with its tail, it would be stuck in the ground. At the same time it would be standing still long enough for Link to run around and slice a green gem that was located just below its tail.
"Ok. Let's go!" Link ran in front of the beast and provoked it to strike with its tail. It did and Link ran behind it and gave a thrust with his sword. The creature cried out in pain. Link gave it another two slashes just before the tail came falling down. Link jumped out of the way and repeated it a couple of times. When Link gave the final slash to the tail gem the creature cried out in pain and dropped to the ground. Link thought he had won when the creature mutated. "What's happening?" Link said out loud as the creature changed. When it was done Link saw that it now had the gem in its forehead. Also it had grown a bit bigger.
"Well.. shucks" said Link. A claw came rushing and Link had to make a back flip away. The creature moved closer and Link turned to run away. The creature continued to move closer to Link. Link was now trapped against the wall. He pulled out his bow, knocked an arrow and aimed. The creature's head rocked from side to side to aiming was difficult. "Dear Nayru guide my arrow" Link mumbled and shot. The arrow was a direct hit. The creature gave a roar and fell to the ground. Link ran up and jumped up on the creatures head and landed on his sword to stab the creature. Another roar and Link only had time to give another slash before he fell off.
The creature hunted Link again, only to be hit by another arrow. Again the creature fell to the earth and again Link slashed the gem. After more slashes and another arrow the creature fell again. But this time it recovered quicker than before. Link was thrown off and a claw hit him in the middle of his chest. "Uhf." Another claw. Link was being held down by the creature. He was about to give up when he remembered Rauru's words. Link managed to find the forest medallion but nothing happened the medallion was as dead.
Above him the creature was still holding link down, trying to press him through the floor. Link closed his eyes. Had it come to this? Was he going to die here? Just as Link was about to give up he had a vision. He saw the Goddesses talk to him. "Get up Link… The fate of Hyrule rests upon your shoulders." Link felt a power flow through him and opened his eyes. With a roar he took his sword and stabbed the creature in its stomach. The creature roared of pain as it let Link go. Link jumped to his feet grabbed his sword in both hands. Now he noticed the symbol of the Triforce on his right hand. It was gloving vividly. There was a fire in his eyes. The creature had fallen to the ground, now was the chance to strike. Link ran to the creature, charging up power on the way. "I'm Link. I'm the Hero of Time!" Link shouted as prepared to attack. "Spin Attack!" Link made a Spin Attack. And finally the monster dropped dead.
After the monster had disappeared the Kokiri Emerald appeared. Link reached out to get it and the moment he touched it rays of light filled the room. Link had to cover his eyes not to be blinded. When the light subsided Link saw a glow around two of the Medallions; The Forest Medallion and The Spirit Medallion. "Now to get out of here" Link thought as he looked around. But there was no exit since Link broke the elevator. As Link was about to give up he held out the Kokiri Emerald to inspect it closer. There was still a small bit of light in it and it seemed to be growing bigger and bigger… flash
Link was on the surface, outside the Forest Temple. Wondering how he got there he tucked the Medallions in his backpack as well as the emerald and began to walk away. As soon as he stepped over the large platform containing a picture of the Triforce he heard a voice inside his head. "Take out the Medallion." Link didn't know the voice but for some reason he felt he had to do as it said. He found the medallion and took it out. He held above his head. Another flash, green this time, appeared. When Link took his arms down the medallion had become a small crystal piece; a shard of a larger crystal. Link had no idea of what was going on but he knew that whatever was happening he had to move fast. He ran out of the Lost Woods, got upon Epona and rode towards Death Mountain.
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Meanwhile, far away from the Lost Woods. In a realm of darkness two shadowy figures were talking hectically with each other. "Everything is going as planned" said one of them. "He already posses the first shard."
"Now he will have to make it through the Fire Temple and its guardian, and then the Water Palace" the other said. "And if things spin out of control… we have even stronger minions at our command. Ghahaha."
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My favorite scene in this chapter must be when Link falls down from his "prison." Also note two things here. 1) His Triforce mark on his left hand begins to glow. This seems to give him an added boost of strength. 2) Shards? What are they, what are their purpose? I know but you don't. Yet.