Chapter Ten: Misfortune in the Lost Woods
Link stepped into the forest, also known as the Lost Woods after what felt like hours of traveling, although in reality it had only been half of an hour. He walked in and found himself looking into a vast darkness ahead. There wasn't much light, and where the sun did penetrate the darkness, it was in very small, tight beams. He began listening, but heard nothing out of the ordinary. Besides a few chirps from birds up in the canopies and the the chattering of squirrels among the trees, everything seemed strangely peaceful.
He walked ahead, almost entranced by this peace. Then, he remembered why he was here and began to look around for any signs of a village or even a temple. He walked onward, and found that almost all of the forest looked about the same no matter where he went. He kept walking in one direction for hours, and then sighed and sat down. There didn't seem to be an end to the forest, and he was lost now.
"No wonder it's called the Lost Woods," he muttered.
He suddenly heard a twig snap nearby. He hopped up and looked around for the source of this. Suddenly, he heard, "Well, well, well. It looks like we have another person lost in this forest."
He turned to see a small boy with rags on, but there was something that wasn't normal about him. Link saw that his face seemed strangely shadowed out, but he could see two sets of glowing yellow eyes peering out at him. Then, he saw that his hands were bone, and guessed that he was a skeleton.
"Who are you?" Link asked.
The little skeleton boy laughed and replied, "I don't have a name in this forest. I lost it a long time ago. You can just call me Skull Kid, for that is what I have turned into."
Link asked, "Can you take me to the nearest village? Or even the temple here?"
The skull kid cocked its head sideways, and then shrugged and said, "It depends on what town and what temple you want to go to. There's two temples and at least twenty scattered towns and villages around here."
Link looked at the skull kid with wonder. Here was this undead being standing before him and talking with him instead of trying to kill him. Link asked, "Where's the nearest village?"
He could have sworn that he saw a small smile form on the skull kids face, and it said, "I can take you there...for the price of five rupees!"
Link thought, That sounds reasonable enough.
He reached into his wallet and pulled out a single blue rupee. The skull kid held out his hands and Link dropped the small, glittering gem into its hands. It laughed and said, "Very well, then! Let us find civilization and fast!"
It began to run off through the woods, and Link followed to the best of his ability. It was swift, and seemed to be testing Link's endurance be continuing to run full speed in all sorts of weird directions. Link began to think that it was playing with him, as it sometimes led him in the complete opposite direction than the way they were going.
He yelled, "You know, I can't keep running forever!"
All of a sudden, they arrived at a town. It was in a clearing, and all of the houses and buildings were made from trees. Link found himself just staring at this strange sight, and then he noticed that the skull kid had vanished. He sighed and thought, If I ever meet that kid again, I'll have to remember not to trust it.
He walked down into the village and noticed that everything was strangely still. There was not a thing around that was moving. He looked into the houses, each of them, and saw nothing in them. It was like the village was abandoned. He angrily said, "That skull kid tricked me! He took me purposely to a town that was uninhabited! Civilization indeed!"
He sighed and sat down on the ground in the middle of the village. He looked around, for a while, hoping desperately that some form of life would show itself. When nothing did, he said, "Curse that skull kid. He got me even more lost than I was before. How am I supposed to find the temple and save her father, or purge this forest of the darkness if I can't even find anything?!"
"That, my friend, is just what I can help you with," he heard someone say. It was not the skull kid from earlier.
He turned to face this new being and found himself face to face with a small creature that was made out of wood. It was half his height, with strange yellow eyes and a mouth that was in the shape of a round hole. He wondered what it was, and then it asked him, "Are you Link?"
Link nodded and the wooden creature said, "Wonderful! Follow me. The Great Deku Tree is expecting you."
It turned around and began walking, something that Link had thought it wasn't going to do. He followed it and it asked, "How did you end up there, anyways?"
Link replied, "I followed a skull kid and it led me there, and then abandoned me."
The creature sighed and said, "A word of advice to strangers here. Never, ever, trust a skull kid."
They walked onward, and it seemed to have a set destination in mind, unlike the skull kid earlier, who just went in just about any direction possible except for up or down. He followed it warily, not so sure that he should trust it. Finally, they arrived at another village. This one had the same kind of buildings and houses, but there were small people, almost like children, walking around and going on with their daily lives. They all turned when they saw the wooden creature arriving, guiding Link towards the Great Deku Tree.
He felt a little uneasy, but these little people seemed more or less peaceful. They wore plain, green clothes, and had a fairy floating near their heads at almost all times. He wondered why the fairies were there, but then he heard the wooden creature say, "We are almost there. We have one more path to take and then we will have arrived at the Great Deku Tree. Show respect in front of him, please."
Link followed the creature all the way down a small canyon, and then he found himself before an awe inspiring sight. There, in the middle of a clearing, stood the Great Deku Tree. It was huge, standing so tall that it was easily the largest tree in the entire forest. It had what looked like a face on the front, with a mustache of leaves and large eyes that seemed to be carved into it.
Link walked up to it and it said, "Welcome, young hero. I have called for you, and you have answered promptly. For that, I thank you."
Link asked, "What do you need me to do?"
The Deku Tree replied, "Indeed, there is an evil lurking inside this forest. Some say the great king himself has returned in the form of a phantom. I do not know what it really is, but I do know that it has now made the forest temple its domain. I must ask you to defeat it."
Link replied, "I will. Give me directions to it, and I will see this evil purged from the temple forever."
The Deku Tree almost seemed to smile and said, "You are a brave young warrior. I shall have one of the dekus guide you to the Sacred Forest Meadow, but no further than that. After you enter, you must brave the temple alone."
Link nodded and said, "I will be on my way then."
The deku from earlier came up and said, "I will escort you to the Sacred Forest Meadow. Though I cannot follow you in, I will be waiting for you outside."
Link asked, "So why is it that I do not get help? Surely there is someone that ca-"
The Deku Tree said, "No, there is no one else who is to be allowed into the meadow, except for the sage, but she has gone missing and we do not know where she is."
Link sighed and said, "Well, I guess that really means I will be going in alone..."
The deku asked, "Shall we go, now?"
Link began to follow the deku through the woods, and as they neared their destination, Link heard an ocarina playing. As Link listened, he began to feel the rhythm of the song, and wondered who was playing the ocarina. He asked, "Who's playing that song?"
The deku replied, "I do not know, but whoever they are, they are inside the Sacred Forest Meadow. I would advise that you have them leave, unless the person is the sage. After you are done purging this temple, leave immediately. You are only being allowed into the Sacred-"
Link interrupted, "Yeah, I know, now leave me alone about that. I know what I'm supposed to do."
The deku said, "Whatever."
They finally arrived at the entrance and the deku said, "Once you go in, I will not allow you to leave until you have brought me proof that the temple has been purged. Then, once you are done with that, I will highly recommend that you leave this forest, for I am sure that you will have other tasks arising as well."
Link walked in and then he heard the deku add, "Oh, and before I forget, take nothing out of that temple that belongs there, including the healing plant within. If you do, I will see to it that you are...executed on spot for thievery."
Link was taken aback by that comment. He needed that to save Ruto's father. He began to wonder if this deku was really a good person or not. The Great Deku Tree would probably allow him to take just one leaf, which was all that he really needed, with him to go save the Zora king. However, this deku wasn't about to allow anything out of the ordinary to happen in there. He drew his sword and cautiously went in, preparing himself to face this phantom, be it real or not.
As always, please review on this chapter and tell me what you think. Next chapter will be long, as it is the next dungeon. Hope you like! X3