Author's note:

For Link's adult self, I wanted to use the past tense to illustrate a more mature and reflective view as opposed to a child's innocence, impulsivity, ability to live in the present, and lack of understanding of his surroundings and own feelings. This is also part of Link's evolution; being forced to prematurely grow up in a decaying world would probably bring one into becoming quite angsty and philosophical.

That said, the forest temple, in my opinion, is the most unsettling and eerie part of the game, hands down, yet also the most beautiful in a strange and mystical way. Large ruins still reminiscent of their former glory, thrown into a gloomy and silent atmosphere that continuously plays tricks with your mind as Mother Nature slowly reclaims it...

The place was noisy, lively, and fresh. Hedges had been recently cut, and the dirt was freshly trampled. Nothing could have me prepared to what state the next temple was in.

I sprinted through a corridor of freshly cut grass and clean stairs and found myself in front of a most contrasting scenery.

I could barely distinguish the old weathered stones under the thick moss that covered a large reinforced wall. The construction seemed thousands of years old, so old in fact for nature to have long reclaimed its rights on it. The stairs leading to the entrance of this fortress were destroyed, and next to them, an dead overgrown tree with its top chopped off offered a perfect support for an abundance of vines. I sure believed all this to be more security measures to prevent unwanted visitors from reaching the site.

I only realized I really was at the temple upon entering it, and its condition first astonished me. Seeing a tree well grown inside of a building sure isn't something usual at all, and I knew I was in for some mysteries. I walked further into those beautiful, yet eerily silent ruins.

No.
They weren't ruins.

The temple was in excellent condition, it was not worn or destroyed, unlike real ruins, but it sure was abandoned. I couldn't figure out for how long it has been abandoned though, for as fresh as the constructions were, there were hundreds of years' worth of plant growth on them.; moss, vines, full-grown trees, grass, all kinds of things, some of which had evolved into lethal hazards... just about everything that shouldn't have been there. It felt like the place was still glorious and filled with human activity only yesterday, and had been ripped off all its life overnight following some strange unknown events, leaving only a dead and heavy silence in the air. This thought was unsettling, and the abnormality of this scenery made me feel uncomfortable.

I tried focusing on my task, ignoring my surroundings, but my brain kept trying to find something to hear in the suffocating silence, and I slowly began hallucinating things.

As much as I am used to fighting evil monsters of all sorts, this temple seemed to lack of them. Sure there were a few, but nothing like armies of moblins and other things I am used to. Rather, they were silent creatures of Mother Nature gone awry. I began to stress and expect things to jump out at me at the most unexpected times. My heart began racing.

I could see shadows in the corner of my eyes, this sure didn't help me in any way, especially since none of them resulted in one of these surprise attacks I was being so anxious about.

I also would hear things, for my brain started to translate the breeze flowing through the vines' leaves into faint enveloping ghostly whispers...
Areas enclosed within 4 walls were even stranger than the outside gardens.
Torches were still lit.
All floors and furniture were still impossibly clean and dust-free...
The very unusual aesthetics of its architecture brought upon me a feeling of being in some sort of dreamland.

Being darker on the inside, even more shadows seemed to be rushing about, and there were no more ambient wind sound to help ease my mind. I just wanted to be out of there... to go back to the forest... even the armored guards of the maze seemed less dangerous; at least they were alive, and somewhat predictable... unlike this place.

The whole castle was as twisted and senseless as its fate...

I walked through corridors that seemed to bend space and time, found doors on ceilings and treasure chests defying gravity and stood on walls, and unsettling paintings that seemed to stare into my eyes no matter where I stood...

There were strange rooms of unknown purpose, such as one with a giant checkerboard floor that kept me expecting to gamble my life in a chess match with the forces of evil.

I opened a door and faced a staircase. Next to the door I had entered from was a large black canvas... So dark it seemed like a void that could swallow all light rather than an actual black-painted material. Slowly, I started going down the stairs, but quickly something had me stop in my track, making my heart skip a beat. Yes, this time I wasn't only hallucinating, I had heard something. It was clear and very audible... right next to my ear...

…an otherworldly laugh, a voice unlike anything remotely human.

I felt like I was being observed, like my every move was being carefully studied.

Trying to contain the cold chill that tried to take over my spine and weaken my legs, I, as slowly as I possibly could, turned around, expecting -or mostly hoping- to see a monster standing there, ready to duel.

But none of that, the room was still empty, frozen in space and time, with me being the only thing still alive.

But something had changed.

Something... that wasn't there before.

There, where the framed black light-sucking void used to be, was now a very distinguishable ghastly figure smiling as its eyes stared straight into the core of my very soul...