The Forest Path

Link and Navi went off into the whispering Woods, never forgetting the look on Mido's face as he saw himself forced to let them through.

The top branches of the trees were hurled together far above their heads, as if to make an arched pathway to the Forest Father's clearing.

The ruffled leaves crunching and snapping at Link's feet, along with the windy climate, would have set up quite the creepy scene, had it been a tad darker that evening and had Link not had Navi's tender light to lead him through the Woods.

Link had the Kokiri Blade drawn, looking at it with the most astonished of looks.

The Blade of his ancestors and theirs before them. That was something Link had only heard of in Saria's stories, like the one in the 'Wood-Knight and the Sleeping Princess' or 'The Adventurer and the Dark World', and it was stories like those that made Link respect the silver edge of the weapon with such… well, respect. However, there was one thing he could not understand: How in Knaveth had Saria gotten the Sword in the first place?

"So, what was it like for you?" Started Navi, pushing Link from his thoughts and returning him to the present.

"What was what like?" He replied, cautiously putting the Blade back in its sheath.

"Growing up." She revealed "Without a Fairy, I mean."

"Oh, that." He continued, not entirely comfortable "Well, admittedly it wasn't that bad (probably because I had Saria and the rest of the Kokiri children taking care of me) but it was still kinda hard. You?"

"Pretty much the same, except in my case I didn't have Saria (or anyone like her for that matter) to help me carry myself from the dust." She responded, facing the ground and putting her hand over her arm.

Link could feel the pain in Navi's voice. He hadn't thought about how he might have grown up in comparison to her. 'Hell, in hindsight' He thought 'I got off easy.' He thought things couldn't have been worse than what he had had to go through, and the mere thought of it made him gain a lot of respect for the tiny creature.

"Sorry." He said "I didn't mean to make you relive that."

"Don't worry. It's not your fault." She replied, and then the two went silent.

As they were walking in silence, the two stopped in their tracks, for they had heard a fast rustling noise around the edges of the path, and Link instinctively reached for the handle of the Kokiri Blade.

The noise went quicker and quicker the more time passed, adrenaline flowing through the duo's veins, wary about all around them.

And then, the noise stopped. Link was wearily moving forwards as he looked and heard for any sign of movement, nervously clutching the hilt of the ancient Blade with his left hand and keeping his Shield high with his right.

But the noise didn't return. After a while of standing his ground in anticipation of something dangerous, Link got to the conclusion that the noise had probably just been some sort of wild animal scavenging for food, and, holstering his Blade, decided to just keep going onward. Navi, on the other hand, still listened for anything suspicious, and kept going along with wary wings.

After a while of awkward, silent walking, Link finally decided to speak.

"You know? I don't think I would have been able to grow like that. I mean, it must have been horrible for you to have had to pull that off, so if you ever feel like talking about it, Navi, I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Link." She answered, finally finding someone to relate to after all those years "It really means a lot."

"You're very welcome, Navi." Continued Link "And, if I may say so, you strike me as a really brave kind of Fairy. I mean, I've been there. The mockery, the jokes, the whispering behind your back… You've got to be quite brave to live up to all that on your ow-"

But then, he was cut off by Navi, who had pushed her tiny, little hands against his mouth, and had a worried air around her.

And Link soon found out why, for the noise had returned, now even closer than before, and as Link reached for his Sword, a great, flytrap-looking plant came out of the ground, its green, long stem swinging wildly, and brandishing a mouthful of huge razor-sharp teeth and a long, yellow slimy tongue. Link could see the creature's red, thick veins around its open mouth, contrasting its blue exterior, and he could feel Navi flutter about around the area, as if struck by panic.

(And who wouldn't? I mean, you got a giant freakin' mantrap trying to eat you! Try to tell me you wouldn't be scared.)

Aroused as he was from the sudden attack, and worried as Navi was herself, Link kept his wits about himself, remembering from the Triplet's lessons in Swordplay (or Stickplay in their case) that the second you lose your posture, you lose your life. And so he stood, Shield raised high at the monster, Sword at the ready.

The plant kept its mouth pointed at him and bit the air a few times, as if to throw him off guard. Link was terrified by the creature's looks, but even still he managed to block its attack, which resulted with the plant sinking its teeth right through the Shield, but not being able to close its mouth entirely. Link's enemy pushed him down to the ground, its giant mouth a Shield away from his face.

"You know," Said Link, as the plant swung his Shield from side to side "You might want to reconsider this. I mean, I'm not even that tasty. Besides, it might not be the safest of ideas, eating something that's about your size whole. Ever thought of that?"

But the creature still bit, and Link got more tired and more tired of holding the creature at bay. And then Link heard yet another rustling noise, and, still blocking the plant's teeth and lying on the ground, turned his head around to see Navi, holding and pulling at the stem of yet another mantrap that had sprouted a few meters away, and which was trying to bite him as well. Link noticed Navi wasn't going to last very long against the oversized creature.

"Get offa' me, you oversized bundle-o-weed!" Belowed Link, as he put a foot on the ground and rose as fast as he could, throwing the creature backwards, which, in the end, turned out to be quite convenient, for Navi gave out on her grip on the stem of the second plant, making it lounge at Link at top speed. Link dodged the bite by the skin of his teeth, and the second plant passed right beside him, and, unable to control its own speed, ended up biting the stem of the first plant, causing it to cry out in pain.

"Link!" Cried out Navi "Quick, cut the stem!"

Link instinctively heeded Navi's command and thrust the Kokiri Blade right through the second plant's stem like a machete through vines. The plant howled out in pain one last time before it's big, blue mouth was separated from its stem, and eventually falling to the ground and dying. With the second plant down for the count, it was a thousand times easier to concentrate on the first plant, which had recovered from the bite and was (figuratively) looking at Link with its mouth wide open. Link evaded the plant's next couple of attacks, but at the third he couldn't help but think of a way out of the battle. It was a risky move to try, but if he could pull it off, he would get the opening he needed. And so, as soon as the plant lounged at him, Link stood his ground with his Shield lowered to the height of his waist, leaving his torso and head exposed. The plant was inches from his face when Link managed to pull off the trick he had thought of to the letter: He raised his Shield just as the plant's head was over it, knocking the spawn back and over, and making it stay tall and upright, gazing at the heavens as if petrified. Though Link did not understand the reason for this, he gave it no importance at the moment, as he thrust his Blade sideways through the now solid stem of the plant, slaying the monster and gaining himself and Navi a moment of peace.

"Mido was right." Said Link, casually swinging the Blade to cleanse it of blood and watching the big, blue mouth of his foe wither away, leaving only a petrified Stick of Deku wood "The plants were getting vicious."

"Those were Deku Babas." Said Navi, recalling the teachings of the Great Deku Tree.

"You know those things?" Link asked, sitting by a tree to catch his breath.

"The Forest Father is very wise, and knows something about almost every being in the country." She replied, sitting on Link's shoulder "So I asked him if he could teach me."

"So, you're pretty much a flying bestiary?"

"Yup, pretty much. So if anything else comes our way, I'll see what I can do. (Granted we see said creature coming, of course.)."

"Honestly, from where I'm sitting, you do quite a lot already." Said Link, smiling at his accurately-named guardian "I mean if you hadn't grabbed that second Baba, I would have lost an arm, at least."

"Oh, that? Honest to Hylia, that was just me panicking, so thanks, but don't expect any more of that, ok?" She said, with her hand on her arm once again.

"Noted." Said Link, wiping his brow, and wearing a smile on his face. "And Navi?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad to have you by my side."

And off they went again, Link standing up and Navi taking flight.