Kai and the Chaos Emeralds
Chapter 7: Deeper into the Woods
"…and then I found you guys," Toad finished as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest.
As they moved further and further, the forest became darker and darker. Eventually, Link took out his lantern in order to see where they were going.
"So what exactly happened to you guys," Toad asked.
"It's a long story," Kai said.
Soon, they reached a clearing. A thick fog covered the forest ahead of them.
"I guess we should just cross the fog," Kai said.
Kai started to run toward the fog.
"Kai, wait!" Toad shouted.
Kai stopped just a few inches from the fog.
"This fog seems dangerous," Toad said. "If we try to cross it, we could end up passing out."
"How can fog knock someone out?" Kai asked.
"Trust me, it can happen," Toad said. "Link's lantern should be able to move the fog out of our way."
Just as Toad said that, something ran from behind Link and grabbed the lantern. It then put the lantern onto a stick and ran to where Kai was. Suddenly, Midna appeared from Link's shadow. Toad was surprised by the sudden appearance of this stranger.
"Hey, what's this monkey's problem?" Midna asked angrily. "You idiot! While you were staring into dreamland, your lantern got stolen."
"Who or what are you?!" Toad shouted.
"That's right," Kai said. "We never introduced you two. Toad, this is Midna. Midna, this is my good buddy, Toad."
"Let's get back on the subject," Midna said. "What are you going to do with that monkey?"
Just then, the monkey began to wave the lantern around with the stick. The fog began to clear.
"I think she wants to help us," Kai said. "Let's follow her.
"What makes you think that it's a girl?" Toad asked.
"I'm not sure," Kai said. "Something about it just makes me think that it's a girl."
"You could always look down," Toad said.
"Let's just follow her," Link said.
Midna disappeared into Link's shadow, and Kai, Link, and Toad began to follow the monkey through the fog. Periodically, a strange, goblin-like creature called a moblin would appear from the fog. The monkey would be too scared to move when it saw one, so Kai, Link, or Toad would destroy the moblin so they continue through the fog. Eventually, they reached the other side of the fog. The monkey then dropped the lantern and ran off.
"Where's it going?" Kai asked.
Link ran toward the lantern and picked it up. He shook it and found that it had no oil in it.
"Well, this sucks," Link said. "No oil means no light."
"Where can we get more oil?" Kai asked.
"How about over there?" Toad suggested as he pointed ahead of them. A parrot was sitting on top of a box with a dollar-symbol on it. To its left were two barrels. One had oil in it and the other had a strange, red potion in it.
"That's convenient," Toad said. "Link, let's go over there."
"Alright," Link said.
Link and Toad ran over to the parrot's shop. Kai began to follow them, but he heard some rustling from behind him. He turned around and saw a strange, golden wolf. It stared at him. Kai drew his sword and prepared for a fight. The wolf then pounced on him. A strange light surrounded him. When the light faded, the wolf was gone. In fact, the whole forest was gone. He was in a strange field. He looked around. Eventually, the wolf reappeared. Kai rubbed his eyes to make sure that what he saw was real. When he opened his eyes, the wolf was replaced by a skeletal warrior wearing armor and wielding a sword.
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage," the warrior said.
"I have courage," Kai said. "You should see what I have to face."
But the warrior ignored what he just said.
"You may be destined to become the hero of legend, but your current power would disgrace the proud blue of the sword you wield," the warrior said. "You must use your courage to seek power, and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs.
"If you do find true courage, and you wish to save everyone from the horrors they now face, then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold!"
"I'm ready to learn," Kai said.
"Very well," the warrior said. "I will now teach you the first of many techniques that I know."
Kai and the warrior drew their swords.
"While your blade is sharp, it cannot cut through some obstacles," the warrior continued. "By now, you've learned to control magical energy, right?"
"Yep," Kai answered.
"This technique requires the use of your magic," the warrior said. "First, you must surround your blade with magical energy."
A white stream of visible energy surrounded the warrior's blade.
"You must be sure to only use the energy that you need, or you will tire easily," the warrior continued. "The next step is to focus the energy into a sharp blade."
The white energy surrounding the warrior's blade began to sharpen. His sword looked sharper than it did before.
"You must concentrate, or the energy will fade," the warrior said. "Using this technique you can cut through most objects with ease. Practice this technique now."
Kai began to concentrate his magical energy into his sword. Just like the warrior's energy, his turned white. He tried to sharpen it, but he lost is focus. After a few more tries, he finally kept the energy sharp for a couple of minutes.
"You've done it," the warrior said. "As I suspected, you are a quick learner. The first hidden skill, the Dragon Claw, has been passed on!"
Kai then sheathed his sword.
"There are still two other hidden skills for you to learn," the warrior said. "Those are only for one who carries the blood of the hero…the one whose spirit is that of a sublime beast.
"Grow powerful. Test your courage. And when you find that you need another skill to overcome the threats that face you, search for the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirit of the beast to awaken me again.
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Remember those words…"
As he said that final sentence, his voice faded away. A bright light surrounded the entire field. When the light faded, he found himself on the forest floor. Toad and Link were standing over him.
"Did you guys see it?!" Kai shouted.
"See what?" Toad asked.
"The wolf!" Kai answered. "The golden wolf! It attacked me and I was suddenly in a strange field I had never seen before!"
"We didn't see any wolf," Link said. "We did our shopping and found you passed out on the ground. If there had been any enemies nearby, you'd be dead."
"But I did see it!" Kai exclaimed.
"Kai, I'll just take your word for it," Toad said. "But I'm telling you, you were on the ground the whole time. Let's just go into the temple already."
Kai, Toad, and Link began to head deeper into the forest. Kai was deep in thought the whole time that they were walking. Eventually, they reached a strange door in the forest.
"This must be where the Forest Temple is," Kai said. "Let's go in."
Kai, Toad, and Link walked into the dark temple. Almost immediately after they entered, they saw a cage ahead of them. In the cage was a familiar monkey. Midna appeared from Link's shadow.
"Hey!" Midna exclaimed. "That's the monkey that stole your lantern!"
Kai began to reach for his bomb-rock bag. Toad stopped him.
"We want to free the monkey, not kill it," Toad said.
"Aw," Kai groaned. "I wanted to blow something up again. I miss those days."
"I bet that we can open this cage with a sword," Link said. "Let me do it."
Link then slashed at the cage. The cage split in half, and the monkey escaped. The monkey then reached a large, vine wall. It turned to Kai, Link, and Toad and jumped up and down.
"Doesn't it look like she's beckoning you?" Midna asked. "Aren't you guys popular? Eee hee!"
Midna then disappeared into Link's shadow. Kai, Toad, and Link began to follow the monkey. They climbed the vine wall into a large room. Gigantic spider webs covered some of the walls.
"Whatever made these webs has got to be huge!" Kai exclaimed as he looked at the webs. Unknown to Kai, Toad, or Link, something was watching them from above. It looked hungrily at them.
"Does anyone have the feeling that we're being watched?" Kai asked.
"No, why?" Link asked.
"No reason," Kai answered.
Suddenly, a gigantic spider fell from the ceiling and landed right in front of them. The monkey began to cower in fear. The spider knocked Toad and Link into a web. They stuck to the web and couldn't move. Kai reached for the bag on his waist. He pulled out a bomb-rock. He then threw it at the spider. The rock exploded and the spider was no more. Kai grabbed the lantern from Link and used it to burn away the web so Link and Toad could escape.
"You can solve all of your problems by blowing them up," Kai said. "I just proved it right there."
The monkey then led them up some stairs and onto a platform. There were several vines connected to the platform that led to several doors. The monkey climbed onto the vine and hung upside down.
"I think I know what to do," Kai said.
Kai ran forward and jumped toward the monkey. The monkey grabbed Kai and threw him toward the door. Link and Toad did the exact same thing. Once they reached the door, the monkey followed them through it. They were in the open air. There was an old-looking bridge across a canyon that led to another door.
"I say that we should go there," Kai said.
They walked toward the bridge. They then noticed a baboon on the other side of the bridge. It had a strange, purple thing on its head and a boomerang in its hand. It used the boomerang to slice the sides of the bridge and destroy it.
"No!" Toad shouted.
"Bad monkey!" Kai shouted.
The baboon then taunted them by smacking its huge, red butt and ran off.
"That sucks," Kai said.
Midna appeared from Link's shadow.
"Oh! What's going on?!" Midna asked. "Has there been a monkey fight?! Oh no! Now we can't go any farther. We might as well go back."
The monkey began to call Kai and his friends back toward the door.
"I don't know what's going on, but it seems like she wants to take you somewhere, so maybe you should just follow her," Midna continued.
Midna then disappeared into Link's shadow. Kai, Toad, and Link then followed the monkey through the door.
