chapter three

A Lesson in Ancient Hylian

The house is frozen in silence.

I play with my bootlaces as all three of us dig around for a good sentence starter, the awkward atmosphere so thick you could take a bite out of it. It's ridiculous.

"So, uh," Saria tries tentatively. "You want to go in any of the events at the Greenleaf Festival, Zelda?"

Zelda blinks. "What's the Greenleaf Festival?"

I shrug nonchalantly.

"Kokiri celebration," I say unnecessarily. Saria shoots me a look and I wince as I realise I stole her conversation. "Happens once a year when the Deku Tree's leaves are being shed and the fairy-buds are ready to open. Loads of music and competitions and stuff. Whoever wins the competitions gets a chance to go inside the Deku Tree and climb to the top."

"Inside?" Zelda says in confusion.

"He's mostly hollow," Kiri explains. "Don't ask how he controls how he grows. He just does. There's little tunnels all through the tree,"

"That's...unnatural," the blonde adds evenly.

A silence follows the words. It's completely normal for the tree. Sometimes when it's stormy he lets us hide inside him and we have a ton of fun playing hide-and-seek in the dark with just our fairies to light the way.

"So whoever gets to the top first gets to let the first fairies out!" Navi blurts in an attempt to resolve the issue. "That's why everyone tries really hard during the festival to win!"

"It sounds fun!" Zelda smiles faintly. "When is it?"

"A few weeks," Saria says. "Timi's losing his mind, because Fado was supposed to play the Moon Goddess in the play but she pulled out. Said she wanted to focus on the musical direction. She's in charge of providing the background music to the play."

"Harsh," winces Zelda. "Was hers a hard part?"

"It's one of the lead roles," I stretch and lay back on my bed. "Granted, she doesn't have many lines. Spends the whole time either acting serene or screaming like a wuss,"

"Screaming?" she pales. "What kind of messed-up play are you guys doing?"

"Eh, it's not violent," I backtrack. "It's mostly just because she's a massive crybaby the way Timi's written her. He makes the plays himself, you know.:\"

"Timi?"

"The kid who fell off the stilts," Saria summarises just as I'm about to try and give a physical description. To my chagrin, Zelda apparently immediately recognises and nods. Dammit.

"So do you guys have a part?" she asks.

"I'm the Sun Goddess' daughter. I don't get a name, apparently," Saria responds.

"I get to be the villain!" I say excitedly. "I'm playing a monster. No speaking lines required!"

"Which is good, because he sucks at speaking lines," Navi snorts. I wince.

"She's right. I suck at acting. Monumentally bad at it."

"Why would you go in a play if you don't like acting?" Zelda wonders incredulously.

"Because I want to kick Mido's butt," I grin mischievously.

"A reasonable motivation," she yawns, laying back on her bed. "I don't think I'll go in,"

"Why not?" Kiri frowns.

"Well, hopefully I'll be out of here by the time this festival comes around," she says brightly. Saria and I simultaneously raise eyebrows.

"Well, glad to know you appreciate our hospitality," pipes Navi. "I still think you should try out. Just in case. Wouldn't want to look like a total introvert!"

"It's up to you," Saria shrugs. The look on Zelda's face makes me feel guilty; to her, this is one of those questions where you're told it's your choice but you know that there's still only one right answer. I almost open my mouth to tell her that it really is her choice before she responds.

"I guess I'll try out. Where's Timi live?"

The morning of the festival is a mess. Inside the Forest Stage, hidden from the Deku Tree so we don't spoil the play, Timi howls orders like a psychotic fairy, waddling around in a wizard costume. He's made shoes that are like a metre tall to cover for his shortness, and I have absolutely no freaking clue how he walks in them. He can't use stairs wearing them, as we all found out the hard way when he stacked it off the stage and landed on his face. He's clomping around anxiously, checking on all the mains to make sure they know everything they need to say and do.

It'd almost be better if he was actually yelling at me. Instead he seems to be ignoring me. I keep having to go up to him to double check stuff and he gets cross.

"I don't have time to deal with every cast member, Link!" he says pleadingly. "I'm sorry! You're going to have to show some ingenuity on this one."

I really hope I'm not the only cast member who's disgruntled at the way Timi's only paying attention to Saria, Zelda and Mido, the main characters. I catch Fado's eye.

"Fado!" I call, shrugging my costume bag back over my shoulder. "Fado, are we doing bows at the end? Where am I supposed to stand? Timi won't tell me,"

"I'd assume centre stage, next to Saria," she says. "I dunno. Not my area,"

I swallow back the biting reply.

"Okay," I say evenly, wandering 'backstage'. Saria isn't even around, getting grilled by Timi to remember her lines. I can hear them bickering from here, and I sit on the grass crossly. We're ready, for goodness' sake! We don't need more practice! Even Zelda's nailed her lines by now. This is all a waste of time. I lean against the mossy walls and stretch out my legs, hoping they don't cramp up with the movement.

"Hey, Link?" I hear a call around the corner and my head flies up. Saria! She sounds like she's ready to bounce off the walls in excitement. I can already guess what she's about to pester me on.

"Are you dressed yet?"

Bullseye.

"Not yet, almost!" I lie loudly. "Don't come backstage yet!"

I yank the filthy-looking costume from my bag and tug it on over my tunic.

"No, wait, don't! The Deku Tree wants to see you and you can't be in costume or you'll spoil it!"

Dammit.

I pull the costume off and shove it in the satchel again, tossing the bag against the wall and following Saria out to the ladder that leads up to the surface. She gestures me up first and I climb up it as quickly as I can. Why does the Deku Tree want to see me? This is probably gonna be retribution for my less-than-graceful exit the other day. I reach the surface and clamber onto the grass, chewing my lip anxiously. Man, everything I say comes back to bite me.

"So what's going on?" I ask as Saria pops up after me.

"I dunno. He just wants to see you. You two should move in, I'm telling you," she snorts. I raise an eyebrow. "Sorry," she apologises. "I'm a little hyper. I've never had a lead role before,"

"I get it," I assure her. "I'd be hyped, except my role kinda sucks."

I went in hoping for a non-role. After I got the non-role I was annoyed at getting the non-role. What even.

"Anyway, I'll see you by the stage later," she smiles brightly. "Zelda wanted me to help her with her dialogue,"

I snort.

"If she's not ready now then nobody is. She's freaking perfect for the role,"

She's got the snooty, prim demeanour of the Moon Goddess perfect, and she has the most piercing scream I've ever heard on a living creature. Absolutely perfect for it.

"Good luck," she nods, climbing back down into the Forest Stage. I weave my way through the trees, boots tracing the path I could walk in my sleep by now, until I emerge into the village above the shop. I can see the Deku Tree from here, and I jump the fence down the hill and jog into the meadow. I wait patiently for him to speak, biting my tongue. I always feel so awkward whenever faced with the Deku Tree, even if I haven't done anything wrong.

"Do you feel it?" he says abruptly, and I jump despite expecting it.

"U-uh, what am I supposed to be feeling?" I stammer. There's something wrong with his voice. It's unnerving.

He sighs, long and hard.

"I had hoped...perhaps not…" he continues as if I didn't answer. I swallow hard. His voice is unnerving me, and his branches are unnaturally still despite the breeze filtered into the meadow.

"Deku Tree?" I ask nervously.

"If only it had been now…" he carries on his conversation with the air. "How am I supposed to know? Is it him? He has shown no signs…"

"D-Deku Tree!"

The shout pulls itself from my throat, cracking slightly. Gooseflesh ripples along my every limb and I take a step back. Who is he talking to? He's scaring me!

Suddenly his branches start moving again and he frowns.

"Link?" he asks, and I breathe a sigh in relief as his voice returns to normal. "What are you doing here?"

"You called me here," I say uncertainly. "You were...you were talking to yourself. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, child," he says nonchalantly. "Do not fret. You say I called you here?"

"Yes," I murmur. What is going on?

"Ah," he sighs. "It must be time, then."

"Time for what?"

"Link," he begins carefully. "You are aware that you were not born in the forest, correct?"

"Yes," I answer meekly.

"I fear I may have lied to you," he says guiltily. "When I told you that being born outside the forest was not uncommon for Kokiri. In fact, you are the first Kokiri to have been born outside the forest in my memory."

My breath catches.

"What does that mean for me? Are you saying that real Kokiri have to be born in the woods?"

"Not necessarily," he says quietly. "It is possible for outsiders to become Kokiri in the same way that outsiders become Stalfos. It requires a great deal of effort and takes a very long time. The magic should have been acting on you since the day you arrived in these woods and were given under my care. However, I have become concerned that your ears have not yet widened like those of the other Kokiri."

My hands instinctively fly to my ears. I've always wondered why everyone else had wide ears and mine were thin. And no amount of tugging has made me able to move them like the others do. Something coils in my stomach. What is he trying to tell me?

"Am…" I say in a small voice, hating the way it betrays how uncertain I feel. "Am I a Kokiri?"

"Link," he continues, "I fear that I have made a mistake. The magic is not working the way it should have. You haven't completed the transformation into Kokiri, and as such you are aging."

My throat freezes solid and I try to talk but I can't. What does he mean? Why can't I be Kokiri? What's going on? Why is he telling me this now?

"I…" I manage to choke out. "Is there any way I can… I can become a Kokiri?"

"There is," the Deku Tree answers. "But I need more time. There is a possibility that when you reach your eleventh year, when the leaves have fallen and the winter has arrived, that the Skull Kids will begin to dislike your presence. I have been putting off preparing defensive measures for you, but Zelda has assured me that she is skilled with swordsmanship. As such, I wish to return to you an heirloom of your mother's so that Zelda may train you in its use."

"My-my mother's?" I yelp. "You knew my mother? What did she look like? Where did she go? Why did she leave me here?"

"When your mother arrived in these woods she was cloaked and grievously injured," the tree says solemnly. "She joined the Stalfos of the woods. She entrusted you to me knowing that you would be safe in these woods."

I feel like that should hurt, but it doesn't. It's pretty much what I guessed had happened anyway.

"What did she leave me?"

The Deku Tree begins to tug a root from the soil, dragging it free of the ground and scattering clods of dirt over the grass. Wrapped in the tip of the root is a small bundle maybe the length of my forearm.

"Take it," he says. "It is yours,"

I reach out with shaking fingers and pull the bundle free, unwrapping the plain cloth wrapped around it. A plain black sheath made of wood encases what I think might be…

"A sword?" I ask in shock, pulling the narrow weapon from the sheath- to my chagrin, it doesn't make the shinng sound we always mimic in the plays; rather, a quiet, kind of wooden noise. I drink in the profile of the weapon carefully. The sword is long and straight, with a simple brass guard shaped like three sides of a square. Tattered ribbons hang from the base of the handle, and I can still see finger marks on the curved handle that surely must have been left by my mother.

"Yes, Link. It is a sword," he says dryly. "And it is yours,"

I look up, resisting the urge to run a hand along the blade. That would be stupid even by my standards. Instead I hold it out in front of me, at first with both hands, but then I drop my right hand and leave it alone in my left. It feels kind of...warm. It's comfortable, the hilt is just so fitted to my hand that it feels like it's melting into my palm. I look up at the Deku Tree.

"Thank you," I say, my voice oddly constricted. It's so right, even though Kokiri never use weapons. "I mean…"

The Deku Tree lets out a long sigh.

"I want you to promise you will not use this sword to do wrong," he says. "I want to hear no complaints of you threatening or harming anybody else."

"W-what?" I'm thrown by the suggestion that he thinks I would do that. "I would never!"

He sighs again.

"I hope you will not have to," he murmurs. "Please go, will you? And if you could, tell Fado I want to see her. Do not tell anybody what I have told you today, hear?"

I take a step backwards, looking down at the sword in my hands. I slide it back into the sheath with a crisp snapping noise, and clutching the weapon to my chest turn away.

"Oh, Link," the tree suddenly says, and he sounds surprised, as if he hadn't expected to speak either.

"Yeah?"

"If you win today, bring that with you," he said.

"Why?"

"I have my reasons," he says. "Now, go fetch Fado,"

Since I'm dismissed, I dash out of the meadow, the sword still in my hands. I suddenly think of something, and skid to a stop.

"Deku Tree," I say. "What was her name?"

I hear the creaking of wood before he answers.

"Her name was Naraku," he answers finally. I look at the blade in my hands. Naraku. The last thing I have left of where I came from; a name and a sword. I trace the brass hilt and leave the meadow, clutching my treasure to my chest as though someone might steal it away.

I turn and duck through the village, climbing one-handed up the ladder to my house. After some consternation I hide the blade under my bed. Possibly not the most original hiding place, but I doubt I'll lose it under there. Climbing back down the ladder, I race back to the Forest Stage.

"Oi, Fado!" I yell as I descend the ladder. "Deku Tree's looking for you,"

I make my way back to my costume back as Fado complains loudly, dressing as quickly as I can in monster boots, disgusting rag of a tunic, and bestial mask. I must look like an actual animal in this outfit. When I'm done I slide back down the wall, breathing in.

I'm not Kokiri.

I don't understand how something like this has happened. And why I'm so calm about this. I'd have thought I would panic my face off at a revelation like this but it's as if I've just been told my tunic is green. Like something completely unimportant and trivial. Maybe it's because I know the tree'll fix it. A temporary goof. The kind of thing that will only bother me late at night when I can't sleep, and even then only if I don't have Navi singing me to sleep like she usually does when she's in a good mood. She has a beautiful singing voice.

"Okay! Soon as Fado gets back we're on, everyone!" screams Timi. A flurry of movement ensues as Kokiri race for water jugs and costume pieces. I breathe in deeply. I'll be a real Kokiri soon. I'll be fine.

"Geez, what's up with you?" says Saria, approaching. "He chew you out that bad, huh?"

"Not really," I say. "I'm not in a very good mood right now, is all,"

"Aw, you okay?" she says sympathetically. "Need a hug?"

"Yeah," I say, standing up and accepting the hug. She pulls back and offers a smile.

"You're gonna kick Mido's butt today, you know?"

"Yeah," I smile back. "I will. Promise."

"You seen Navi yet? She'll want to wish you luck," Saria asks. I wince.

"No. I'll go now,"

I pull off the monster boots- I don't like climbing ladders in them- and climb back out of the stage, walking back to my house and climbing the second ladder.

"Navi?" I call. "Navi!"

After a few moments she flutters in through the door.

"You calle- wow, I love your costume!" she squeals. I look down.

"Eh, it's not that good. Timi made most of it."

"That mask is really scary," she comments, flying close to the rather disturbing face I painted on it.

"Thanks. I had a dream about a mask like this once. It was a cool mask,"

She taps it with a knuckle before flying in front of my face.

"Okay, spill. What's up with you?"

I bite my lip.

"Deku Tree said not to say,"

She rolls her eyes.

"Please. I'm sure he wasn't including me in that statement."

"Okay then," I say uncertainly. "He told me I'm not actually a Kokiri,"

She pauses.

"Oh," she blinks. "Well then. He'd better try harder with that spell then, hey? Get on with it already,"

Her attitude is almost perfectly as blasé as mine.

"And he gave me a sword,"

"What?" she says in disbelief. "A sword? Show me!"

I duck under my bed and pull out the blade, yanking it free of the sheath and showing it to her. The fairy flutters closer.

"Wow," she breathes. "This is a nice sword."

"Isn't it," I agree.

"Hey, there's writing on it!" she says suddenly. "Ancient Hylian,"

"What's it say?" I ask excitedly.

"I...I'm not sure," she mutters. "My Ancient Hylian's a bit rusty. I think it says hedil...hedil, uh, hedil hal-ne. Hedil means 'wake', but halne isn't a word."

"Are you sure that's what it says?" I ask.

"This might be hekil," she murmurs. "And maybe it's halnk, not halne. The symbols for e and k are the same in Ancient Hylian, plus the blade's a little weathered. The third letter of hedil or hekil or whatever it is is quite weathered. I could be reading it wrong."

"So what do those mean?" I ask interestedly.

"Well, hekil translates roughly to 'free'," she explains. "And halnk isn't a word either, but halne might be similar to halnar, meaning 'cloth'."

She pauses, evidently proud of herself, before huffing.

"Ah, man, I dunno," she says crossly. "I'm rubbish at Ancient Hylian and I don't know what it says. Hedil halne seems to be the best translation but I'm probably wrong."

I shrug.

"Eh, cool history lesson," I smile, putting the sword back in the sheath with that lovely clack. Navi looks at me.

"Where did the Deku Tree get this sword? It's not the Kokiri Sword,"

"It was my mother's," I say, looking at the dark sheath. "Naraku's."

"Oh," says Navi quietly. There's a pause. "It's nice that you have something of hers."

Another pause.

"I'm glad I do," I say warmly, putting the blade back under my bed. "Just something to remember my roots."

The quiet conversation is interrupted by the triumphant cheers of an entire village's worth of fairies.

"FESTIVAL TIME!" they scream together. I look at Navi.

"It's time!"

"Good luck!" she says brightly. "Break a leg!"

A/N: Sorry for the late upload! I wasn't feeling great last night so I put off the upload until I could proofread properly. This chapter was one of the major divergences from the original story!

Lord Darth Yoda: Son of an actual gun! That's a freaking awesome idea! Why didn't I think of that? I so should have thought of that! Alas, time does not stand still in this version of the Kokiri forest. That would have been way too good an idea for little Inky to have! *kicks self repeatedly*

Read and review!

-Inky

7 August 2016