Chapter 2: Into the Forest Temple
Link swung, his sword sang through the air as it sliced through the skull of the last Stalchild. To clean the bone dust from the blade, Link gave it a few swings through the air. He then wiped the length of the blade with a stretch of cloth that hung from his belt for that purpose alone. With a muffled snick as he slid the blade into its sheath, he faced the tree Saria had climbed when the monsters first appeared. She stood on a branch a good twenty feet up in the air.
"I think that's the last of them. For now anyways, so it should be safe for you to come down."
Saria closed her eyes and seemed to get out of tune with reality. A moment later, she opened her eyes and looked down upon Link. A slow innocent grin spread across her face. Link had a moment to think, [Waaaaaaaait, I know that look. She's up to no good isn't-]
She folded her hands behind her back and leaned forward, and gave Link a wink before she told him one simple direction, "Catch!" She jumped off the branch.
Link's eyes went wide. He crouched as he prepared to leap up to catch her. He failed to notice the soft white glow from the feathers on his boots. As Link leapt to catch her, he rocketed up in the air as he unknowingly activated the Roc's Feather. Awkwardly as they caught a hold of each other in midair, the duo spun around before they tumbled to the ground.
Saria giggled hysterically as she rolled off Link's stomach. With a groan he sat up and rubbed his sore back. He glared daggers at her as she failed miserably in her attempts to stifle her laughter. "Don't. EVER. Do that again."
Saria stood composing herself. She curtsied replying, "Thank you my hero for that unexpected display of your prowess. However...might I suggest you work on your landing?" After he gave her a glare that would give a Freezard chills, he stood.
The moment ended as she somberly added, "Anyways, we are almost there. I can't sense any more monsters nearby so it should be a clear shot to the Forest Temple."
Disgruntled, Link looked to the sky. They had set out at dawn, but the monsters had slowed their progress immensely. The sun was now about an hour away from being directly overhead. Unfortunately for them however the foliage was thick enough in most places for the Stalchildren to wander the woods.
Link sighed over the lost time as he composed himself. Once again, he did a mental inventory of his equipment, assessed how much magic he had used, and considered how much he should have left. Internally he winced, [I really shouldn't have used Farore's Wind to catch Malon...] With a sigh, he gestured for Saria to lead the way. His magic had mostly recovered, but his reserves were not fully restored. He hoped he wouldn't need it.
Saria led him to a clearing, where a great stone staircase led up from a large stone platform with the symbol of the Triforce upon it as well as another symbol he didn't recognize. Saria looked wistfully about the clearing before walking over to a stump on one side of the staircase.
She fondly ran her hand over the stump with a slight smile. "This used to be my favorite place to relax. It has been ages since I've been here last." Cheerily, she clapped her hands together as she spun about to face Link. "Unfortunately this is as far as I go." Link nodded appreciatively at her. As he began to climb the stairs, he paused and turned with a thought.
"Will you be able to get back safely?"
Saria nodded, "The Kokiri can move unseen in the forest if we want to. Not even monsters can see us. Sadly you are the reason we had so much trouble coming here."
Link rolled his eyes, before becoming serious. "All the same, be safe going back." He looked back to the temple. "I'll be back once I break the curse." With that he resumed climbing the stairs.
Saria watched as he disappeared under the stone archway. She stood there idly for a moment, [...Foolish. He is about to enter a temple corrupted by a curse and he is more worried about me them himself. Granted he didn't know that I am a Sage but...] With a shake of her head, she turned away and vanished into the forest. [Sheik will be arriving shortly. I best get ready.]
Link held his shield ready and cautiously advanced. Before him stood a door with chains across it, and above the door was the same symbol that was on the stone platform with the Triforce. It could be described as a circle with three 'leaves' forming a spiral that did not meet in the center or touch the edges of the circle. Near the door was a small wooden chest. He approached it slowly, and after nothing jumped out at him he kicked it open. Reaching in, he pulled out a small metal key. [Curious... ] He approached the door and inserted the key. It stuck fast, but the chains fell away from the door.
With a quiet grunt he said out loud, "Whoever designed this place did a poor job keeping me out."
[Although...what if instead of being placed there to keep people out...It was put there to keep something in?]
Taking one last look around, Link opened the door and stepped into the temple. Musty air greeted him as torches along the narrow hallway lit themselves, as if some ancient spell recognized a visitor and lit the way.
There were no visible threats ahead as Link advanced, thinking to himself, [This is too easy...Therefore something bad must be about to-]
A scuttling noise could be heard above him as Link froze. The noise steadily grew in intensity, prompting him to look up. Skullwalltulas and their larger and more dangerous cousins, Skulltula, crawled all over the webbed ceiling. Skullwalltulas were spiders about the size of one's head. They had a vicious bite but luckily most were not poisonous and very easy to kill. Skulltula on the other hand were the size of a small child but could grow to the size of a horse. Their tough outer shell was patterned like a skull, which lead to their name. Often poisonous, normally not lethally so, they were still considered lesser monsters. Spiders transformed by evil magic, just like the Wolfos.
One of the Skulltula spotted him, and with a screech attempted to drop on him.
Link rolled back out of the way. He rose to his feet as he drew his blade and spun, executing a fast spin attack on the creature to knock it aside. The Skulltula scuttled back, one of its legs severed by Link's attack. However, Link's attack failed to pierce its shell. Link advanced on the injured Skulltula as he heard two more drop down behind him and blocked the door he entered from.
The Skulltula reared up, it hissed and chattered as Link activated the Pegasus Boots. He dashed forward, under its flailing legs, and drove his sword through its weaker underbelly. Link allowed for the momentum of the charge to carry him forward, he jumped off the ground with the power of the Roc's Feather. This flipped the spider, allowing him to somersault over the creature and pull his blade free. The sound of more spiders landing prompted him to activate the Pegasus boots once more and charge down the hallway to the door leading deeper into the temple.
He spun around before the door as he came to a halt. Ready to deal with any of the spiders that he expected to pursue him, he was shocked to see none had followed. They swarmed over the fallen Skulltula, webbing up its corpse and had begun to drag it back up to the ceiling.
[Apparently...they are not above cannibalism.] Link shuddered, and opened the door. For them to eat the injured Skulltula, it had to be alive. Monsters faded when killed, either into shadows, dust, or the occasional showy blue flames. Link swallowed to keep the bile down as he continued into the temple.
-x-x-x-x-
"Are you really going to expect me to trust water...that is found in a cursed temple?" The shrub looked at him curiously.
"Fairies would stay here. They left after the temple was cursed, but they stayed here for so long it remembers their magic. It helps you feel rested."
Link looked at the shrub and sighed. After finding a few keys and going through a lot of backtracking between rooms, he had stumbled across a room with a Deku Shrub in it. It shot Deku nuts at him and after he reflected one back at it, it surrendered. It Spoke a very broken version of Common speech, it offered to show Link 'something helpful' in exchange for being let go. The 'something helpful' was the spring before them.
"And I am just supposed to trust that it is not poisoned?"
The Deku Shrub moved over to one of the pools formed from the excess water pouring out of the spring and began to drink. After taking its fill, it turned back to Link and answered.
"Diababa's poison very potent but very obvious. If this spring was poisoned too, it'd be all nasty and smelly."
Link cocked an eyebrow as he lowered a bottle into the spring. "Diababa? And what do you mean by 'if this spring was poisoned too'?"
The shrub bounced up and down in anger, and chirped several times in what Link could only assume was the Deku Shrub's native tongue before it finally calmed down enough to answer.
"Diababa, big Deku baba, many heads. It poisoned the spring at the heart of the temple. Pity too..." The shrub leaned in and whispered, "Legend has it that Farore bathed in that spring!"
Link choked on the water as he started to sip. "Wait what!? Why would she come here?"
The shrub looked offended. "Haven't you heard that the Lost Woods is where Farore descended to create all life?"
Link had no reply to offer. After shaking his head, he refilled the bottle he drank from as well as a second bottle.
"Looks like I am going to have to find this Diababa."
-x-x-x-x-
Link slotted the golden key decorated with a skull into the lock and pushed open the large doors that marked what Link suspected could only be the heart of the temple. He entered a room filled with a disgusting viscous purple liquid. He watched the liquid bubble for a while with a disturbed expression.
"Ok, I don't care if all three of the Goddesses themselves bathed in that at one point, I'm never drinking that."
Link grinned to himself despite the situation, but his moment was short lived as the water started churning. Two large plant bulbs rose from the water and opened, revealing that they were some kind of Deku Baba.
He took a moment to observe the bulbs before commenting to no one in particular, "I take it you are Diababa?" One of the bulbs arched forward attempting to bite him.
Link dodged to the side and tried to hack through the stem of the extended bulb, but was forced to dodge as the second bulb closed in on him. He jumped up over the humongous bulb and then dashed across it before he leapt across the room, propelled by the Pegasus boots.
Link backed away, inspecting the damage he'd done. Already the part he had cut was healing. He would need to do a lot more damage in a much shorter time frame.
Before he could formulate a plan, the first bulb slammed into the ground and then swept towards him.
Fooled by the ruse, Link jumped over the first bulb. Diababa had predicted that course of action, as the second closed around him. Link gave a grunt of pain as the bulb flailed about before it threw him to the ground.
Disoriented, Link shook his head once more as he tried to review his weapons and come up with a plan. His sword could not deal enough damage. Arrows would not fare any better, but wind arrows had a chance if he found a weak point to hit. His boots made it much easier to dodge, but they didn't really help him deal more damage. That left...his bombs. He pulled one out of his pouch and lit it when-
CHOMP.
The bulb closed around where Link was standing moments before, the plant obviously meant to swallow him whole. It moved away, as it felt something caught within its maw, not yet noticing that the green clad hero had dodged the attack.
"Unfortunately I am not part of the menu. Please enjoy the Goron's Special Crop instead."
BOOM!
The bulb was blasted apart in a shower of the vile purple liquid as Link's bomb detonated within its maw. The undamaged bulb thrashed wildly, as did the stem of the severed bulb. They bashed against the walls and floor, as if in hope to crush Link with their blind rampage.
He watched as Diababa writhed about before it sank into the vile liquid.
[It is not over yet, is it? That was too easy.]
The liquid churned, when out rose two whole bulbs and what appeared to be main mass of the creature. A much thicker stem led to the central bulb that had what appeared to be an eye peering out of it. It turned and gave Link a hate filled glare full of malice. Link hurled a bomb at the central stalk before activating the Pegasus boots.
He charged at the door he entered from, and gained speed with every step as a soft glow enveloped the boots.
The bomb exploded against the monster causing it to reel back, but it didn't do as much damage as when Diababa practically swallowed the bomb.
Link pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow as he jumped at the wall. When he landed crouched on the wall, he pushed off again and soared into the air. He twisted about, taking aim while his bow glowed with the charged power.
Oblivious to what Link had planned; Diababa aimed its eye at Link and had begun to give off a sickly glow, when suddenly Link's Wind Arrow pierced the eye. It shrieked and thrashed, spewing poison about the room. Link rolled upon contact with the ground and came up on one knee. He dropped his bow and drew a pair of bombs and waited for his opponent's next move.
The plant quelled its thrashing and lashed out at Link with its secondary bulbs. Tossing a bomb into the maw of each, he launched himself into the air. As the explosions ripped them apart, Link pulled his bomb bag loose for his next move and stood still before the monster.
Diababa could not resist the opportunity and lurched forward as it closed the maw of its central stalk around Link.
Link appeared out of a flash of green light and stumbled to the ground. With a tired grin, he leaned back stating, "I really hope you're full, because I'm all out of bombs."
BOOM.
Smoke from the explosion had filled most of the room. Link stayed where he landed, resting for a few moments. After the smoke had mostly cleared, Link sat up tiredly. He was so exhausted; he had used more magic than he should have. He grabbed one of his bottles of spring water and guzzled it.
Link looked over to the fountain. Without the monster tainting it, the water was running crisp and clear. He could almost believe that Farore once bathed in it. He scoffed- "almost" being the key word.
After he took a moment to look around Link spotted a blue glowing ring off to the side as well as a chest in the shallow end of the spring. With a pained grimace, Link got to his feet and trudged over to the chest. He opened it, and pulled out what appeared to be a cape of some kind.
Puzzled by the cape, but too tired to care, he stuffed it in his pouch before he stepped over to investigate the blue ring. Something told him it was a benevolent spell of some kind, but he was still hesitant as he stepped into it. Slowly he rose off the ground, and Link shut his eyes as the world disappeared in a flash of white light. His last thought before he vanished was, [Maybe this wasn't a good id-]
