Splash.

He miscalculated her destination, and Dora landed in the ocean. She dared think it was less of a mistake than it was an inability to teleport her such a far distance. Shore was within swimming range, but her arms, legs, back, and stomach were on fire when she finally pulled herself to dry land. Her chest rose and fell, while she laid on her back and focused on taking deep breaths. The warm sun quickly dried the water dripping from her skin, but her clothes, and especially her long red hair, were still soaked. Her muscles were stiff, and she cried out when she rolled to her side to stand up. She made her way up a few dirt landings, and stood on the edge of a pool of water, with a tall waterfall on the other side. "No wonder they couldn't make it inside," she said aloud to herself. Without any rope, her only option was to climb the rock pillar that split the waterfall in two.

Dora walked straight through the water that came up to her knees. It was one of the most difficult climbs of her life, but with the use of a couple arrows and her sword, she was able to make enough footholds that she reached the top of the short waterfall. The next obstacle was leaping the wide distances between the rocks that protruded from the fast moving water. One wrong step and she could have slipped and slid all the way back to the ocean. Fortunately, the monsters that were lurking there as a result of Ganondorf's magic recognized the dark power in her and ignored her.

Near the top, she was forced to travel the ledges on the outside of the island because one gap between rocks was much too far, even for her. She climbed the cliff that led to a pool of calm water just outside her destination. Despite having been soaked by the ocean water half an hour ago, she sat in the cool, refreshing pond, until the sweat on her skin dried and she was cool again. She was invigorated, and felt alive for the first time in a long while, but she was also quickly wearing out.

The opening looked as if it would lead into a cave, but instead she entered a secret grove or meadow. Little bugs filled with light fluttered about, and all seemed at peace. The best part was the mixture of fresh aromas that filled the air from the trees and grass. She walked slowly through the steady moving water, staring at the greatness of the tree in the center of the grove. His highest limbs reached hundreds of feet into the sky, big enough to be hollowed out and made into a castle. There was little doubt this was the Great Deku Tree's offspring.

The problem was, little red and green jelly creatures covered him like a massive infestation of warts. He groaned and moaned, absolutely miserable. Dora froze, and realized, if this was who Ganondorf suspected it was, she could not be seen. There were many trees, and the owner of them all seemed to be in too much distress to notice her, so she climbed into the limbs of one, lying down like a sleek cat on the prowl, and waited.

Before the hour was up, she heard the splashing of water, and turned her eyes to the entrance of the grove. There was that stupid little boy in his green outfit. Dora watched him defeat the creatures that plagued the tree. It was what happened after that confirmed her suspicions.

The tree spoke in the old Hylian language. She could understand it, but no one spoke that way anymore. He addressed the boy as the old Hero of Time, until he realized his mistake.

Dora learned that Link was there in search of a pearl, something called Farore's Pearl. So, Link's journey had something to do with the three goddesses. Presumably then, there were three pearls. How many did he have? What would they do?

What was this? The Deku Tree needed Link to go and find one of his lost little tree people? Link accepted? Dora acted surprised and silently mocked the self-sacrificing hero. Once he was out of sight, she rolled out of her tree and landed on her hands and knees as quietly as she could. She watched as Link made his way up and around the Deku Tree using little plants to propel himself forward.

Now that, looks cool.

Dora waited for Link to disappear to nobly face off against some monster, most likely spawned from Ganondorf's magic that had slowly infected each island. Once the hero was out of sight, she stepped into one of the little pods.

The sensation was incredible. The plant seemed to want to swallow her whole as it built up pressure around her. The fit was a little tight, but she was flexible enough to bring her knees up to her chest and tuck her head, like a ball. Finally, the pod released her with a powerful explosion, and she was launched into the air.

The sensation of free falling, even for that short distance, was exhilarating. She bent her knees and landed softly in the grass, touching down on her hand for support. Dora went back into the pod, let it toss her into the air where she aimed herself for the next one, which swallowed her up and spit her out even higher. She felt like a frog, hopping and jumping from one lily pad to the next. Finally, she came to rest on the limb of the Deku Tree.

"Who's there?" he yelled.

The little tree people came running at his outburst. Dora panicked. She leapt from the limb she stood on, gripped a hanging vine, and slammed right into the Deku Tree. The tree's bark was rough, but it sloped to the ground, so with some excellent skill she was able to jump down the side of the tree. She landed every few feet and gripped the bark to make sure she would not go plummeting toward the ground. The little tree people were flying toward her using magical spinning leaves, but she rushed at a great speed out of the grove, and stood in the pool of water at the top of the waterfall. After pausing to catch her breath, she started back toward the shore where she originally climbed onto dry land.

"You know that old whale won't be easily convinced," exclaimed a voice.

"I have to try. I know this boy is the hero, I can sense it. We just have to be willing to give him a chance," said another man's voice. This voice startled her, and she dropped to the ground on a little mass of land just at the top of the waterfall. Link's red boat, and a fish, were talking to each other when she looked out. "If I can convince Lord Jabun to give us Nayru's Pearl, then we can raise the Tower of the Gods and they can judge him."

Dora started to wonder if there was some sort of strange medicine in those pods that made her hallucinate. Then she heard the voices again, and they matched the mouths of the fish and the boat. It was the boat's voice that sounded familiar, which she thought so fiercely to place the voice that her brain ached. She stopped to listen again, and then tried to remember a name that went with that voice. It was the boat's features that finally put a face in her head, then a name to the face. Dora gripped the dirt in her hands, her face contorted in anger. She gritted her teeth. It was that damned King of Hyrule. Nearly all rational thought escaped her, and she reached for her sword. Her fingers clenched around the hilt, then opened, and clenched again. It was his fault, all his fault, and Dora wanted nothing more than to make him pay.

It was not the time yet, she heard in her head, in her husband's voice. She released the grip on her sword, and rested her forehead on the wet ground. The sun was setting, and Link had not returned from his adventure. Dora waited to be summoned home, so she could relay the information she learned.