DISCLAIMER- Legend of Zelda© Nintendo. I don't own anything having to do with Legend of Zelda. I bought the games and a few manga here and there, and that's about it. ;) OH. And I changed the titles of each chapter... It was just bothering me because of the prologue, and how Ch. 1 was technically Ch. 2... O_o
9
The group stopped in front of a large, leafy structure, that appeared to be a wall of bushes and flowers. "Right this way," Saria said, motioning towards a tiny opening at the bottom of the brush wall. One by one, they squeezed through the tiny crawl space after the young Kokiri girl.
"Welcome to our village," Saria said courteously.
Kioshi made it through nimbly, without a scratch. Link grabbed Tari's hand to help her through the child-sized crevice as Midna and Blaine stumbled in after them, practically tripping over little Kiko. The young Deku baby then hid behind Link's leg, sensing Midna's negativity towards him. The five adults then scanned their surroundings slowly. They noticed that every single dweller of the Kokiri Forest was a young child, each accompanied by a small, glowing fairy. "Are there no adults...?" Link asked slowly.
Saria led them forward. "Of course not," said an airy voice that appeared to be coming from someone other than Saria. "None other than you all, and the young Sheikah man you're looking for." A tiny fairy fluttered out from under the collar of Saria's green shirt and danced gracefully in the air above her head. "You don't know much about the Kokiri, do you, travelers?" asked the fairy in a light, dainty voice.
"Be kind, Nisa," Saria said sternly to the bright lavender-colored fairy. "They've come to help us."
"So I heard," replied Nisa. "And you're also after our Emerald."
Link averted his eyes to the side. "Uhm... Yes," he replied.
"Look," Kioshi began harshly, cutting to the chase, "one of my closest friends is lost in that Deku Tree of yours. We'll help you, but I need to find him. Now."
"And... we do kind of need that Emerald..." Tari added slowly, knowing it was a lot to ask.
Saria nodded. "Right this way, then."
"Greetings, dear heroes," said an old, weary voice. "I knew... you would come."
Link stepped forward, studying the Great Deku Tree. His wooden face was worn and full of age, as was the hoarse, weak baritone of his voice. His somber expression seemed hopeless, inducing a great sense of sorrow amongst Link and the others. "Tell us what we need to do," Link requested somberly, knowing what could become of the guardian of the Kokiri children. His voice was almost incoherent.
The Great Deku Tree closed his dark, wooden eyes. "Please... Defeat this... evil beast... inside me..." he sighed wearily. "There's not... much time left."
"Please," Saria pleaded. A tear began to form in her sky blue eyes. "He's raised us, and kept us safe for so long..."
Tari knelt down beside the young girl. "Don't worry Saria," she whispered softly, resting a hand on her small shoulder. "We'll take care of this. I promise."
"Of course we will," Midna said kindly, also trying to reassure Saria. "Your Deku Tree will be fine."
Saria looked up at Tari, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Thank you," she replied honestly.
"Just stay strong," Tari said.
A sudden, horrific shriek was heard from behind them, alerting the group. A few familiar shadowy beings emerged, encircling them. "Shadow Beasts!" Blaine shouted, his sword ready. The Shadow Beasts began to appear all around, out of thin air. Many Kokiri children pulled out various weapons, ready for a fight.
"Tari, Kioshi, you come with me," Link commanded. "Blaine, you and Midna help those kids out."
Midna's scarlet eyes widened. "But... there are so many!"
"Come on!" Blaine hollered as he grabbed Midna by her arm, the two of them running towards the demonic creatures.
"Alright, Deku Tree," Kioshi demanded, ignoring the commotion behind her, "we need in."
The tree said nothing in response. His face, however, slowly began to disappear, and a tall opening suddenly emerged. Link, Tari, and Kioshi ran inside without further thought. The entrance behind them closed almost immediately.
"HIO!" Kioshi hollered desperately, hoping for a response. Nothing but the echo of her voice. "He has to be here..." She sighed. "Well, with any luck, once we defeat this 'evil' thing, those Shadow creatures will disappear. From Kokiri Forest, anyway..."
"Let's hope," Link replied. "Maybe that Emerald is in here, too."
The group looked around a bit. A few torches had been lit high up on the wooden walls. In front of them was nothing of much importance. Only the endless tall vines crawling high up on the walls, or an occasional insect skittering by. High above was a ledge, with more lit torches.
"So... where do we go?" Tari questioned. "There doesn't appear to be any-" Tari suddenly lost her footing, and realized she was falling fast. "Gaaahhhh!" she cried reaching out in a hopeless effort to find something to grab on to. Looking up, she realized that the huge whole she'd fallen through had been hidden by a gigantic spider web, which would explain why she missed it completely. Or at least, it looked like a spider web.
"TARI!" Link shouted, scared out of his mind. Oh Goddess, what if she doesn't make the landing... He bit his lip, trying not to think about it.
Come on, Tari! Tari thought to herself as she fell. Use them! Use your-
"No," she muttered softly to herself. The others can't know. Not yet.
"Hang in there, Tari!" Kioshi hollered down to her. "We're coming! Uh... Eventually!"
Preparing herself for the worst, Tari clamped her eyes shut. For the love of Din, please let this be a quick and painless landing... or a quick and painless death... She suddenly heard a loud splash, and felt an icy cold sensation encircle her entire body. "Ha..." she gasped, catching her breath. Glancing at her surroundings, Tari noticed she was in a rather large body of water. Further ahead, she saw two different passages, each lit by small lanterns hanging on the walls. "G-guys!" she shouted, shivering slightly. "I think I know where we need to go!"
Hearing her voice caused Link to exhale a tremendous sigh of relief. "Thank Farore," he uttered to himself, wiping a bit of sweat off his forehead.
Kioshi smiled, also quite appeased herself. "You always were somewhat clumsy, Tari," she said lightly, trying to add a bit of humor.
Tari looked up to see both her friends' faces pop up out of nowhere it seemed, looking down at her. "Everything okay down there?" Link asked loudly.
"Yeah!" Tari shouted back. "It's pretty safe to come on down... Just be prepared for ice cold water!"
"Water?" Kioshi wondered aloud. "Why would there be water inside of a tree?"
Link stood, ready to jump. "Does anything make much sense anymore?" he asked humorously. Before she could reply, he leaped into the air, and fell through the torn web beneath them.
Kioshi let out a dark laugh as she watched him fall. "No, I guess not," she said to herself. She, too, fell through the large hole in the ground.
Tari heard two piercing screams, each accompanied by a loud splasssh! sound as she climbed out of the blistering cold water. "Quite exhilarating, isn't it?" she said rather sarcastically, helping Kioshi out of the water, followed by a shivering Link.
"I could go again," Kioshi replied casually, wringing out her soaked violet tunic.
"I'd rather not..." Link muttered, still shaking from the cold temperature of the water.
The three of them stood there a moment, pondering to themselves which passage to take, and what they'd do to escape. If they made it out alive, that is. None of the three forgot about that possibility.
"Hm..." Tari said thoughtfully. "I guess we should split up. At least one of these halls has to lead to our evil beast, right?"
"Have fun," Kioshi stated, heading towards one of the empty hallways. "I'm going to find Hio."
"Well, try to find your way back here, if you think you chose the wrong-"
"I'll be fine, Tari," she heard Kioshi mutter from down the long corridor. "Hio? Hioooo!" Her voice gradually softened as she walked on, then soon disappeared.
Link and Tari stood there a moment. "Guess it's just you and me," Tari said. "Let's check this-"
"Tari," she heard Link said quickly as he grabbed her arm. "Wait."
She stared at him a moment, watching as the intense expression on his face softened to the kind young man who rescued and cared for her days before. Something about him... makes me feel comforted, she thought.
"I just..." Link stammered, looking fixedly at the young woman, searching for words. You can trust me, Tari, he thought. I'll always be there. I'll protect you, whether you need me or not. I'm... Link wished he could say these words, but for some reason, they wouldn't come out. I'm... going to lose my mind.
"Yes?" Tari asked patiently.
Link sighed. "I'm just... really glad you're okay," he said honestly, trying to temporarily forget about his previous thoughts. "I was so worried that you'd be... you know..." His expression turned solemn.
His spirits were lifted a bit when Tari gently smoothed some of his wet and messy blond hair out of his face. "I always have a way of getting myself into trouble," she said. "But... I know that if I can't get out of it on my own... you'll always be there." She giggled lightly, as if that were a joke. "Come on."
Link watched a moment as she walked ahead of him down the empty corridor. He knew there was something odd about her, other than the secret she wouldn't tell anybody. But it was something good. It made him feel happy, to say the least. It's possible that he could have just been relieved to know that he didn't have to complete this entire journey by himself...
No. It's much more than that. He smiled to himself, and continued after her down the long hall.
"Take a lantern off the wall," Tari said, looking behind her at Link. "I don't know how dark the rest of this corridor is going to be. We can also keep them around for future use, just in case." He noticed she was carrying one as well, and grabbed the lantern hanging closest to him.
"Hio?" Kioshi called, still desperate for a reply. Nothing. "Urgh," she groaned, becoming frustrated.
She let out a long sigh and continued forward, making her way through the twists and turns of the confusing hallway. At that point, she honestly didn't care if she'd made a wrong turn, and wouldn't find the monster they had to defeat in time. Hio is strong. He would have made it out by now. She clenched her teeth tightly, both angry and deeply worried.
Something is wrong.
She loved him. She could admit it honestly and truthfully, without worrying about her pride, or trying to save herself the embarrassment. Hio might have been a total moron at times, but she realized at that moment how much he'd always meant to her, and how badly she needed him. "DIN!" she cursed, punching her strong fist into the wall beside her, not caring about the pain. She couldn't even feel any physical pain.
Hio... Where are you? Kioshi shut her eyes tight, trying to prevent any tears from forming.
A sudden noise made her jump. Holding her breath, she stepped forward slowly, careful not to be heard. She heard the loud stomping noise again. The sound resembled something along the line of a thunder clap, mixed with whatever a giant's footsteps would sound like, she guessed. Taking a few steady, quiet steps forward, she listened more intently. She could hear a loud hissing sound, then a few tiny little cracking noises. What is going on...?
As silently and slowly as she could, Kioshi turned her head and peered around the corner. Before her was a large chamber, that smelled of dirt and mold. A tremendously large figure moved slowly. She couldn't tell what it was. Some kind of giant arachnid, maybe?
That made sense, because there were smaller forms below it, in the shape of large eggs. Well, that would explain the cracking sound, I guess.
The gigantic spider-like creature froze a moment, then turned its head. Kioshi then noticed a huge, glowing yellow eye open slowly.
It was staring directly at her.
Somewhat bored, Tari twirled her thin fingers through her golden red hair mindlessly. "I can't help feeling like we're lost," she admitted.
"I hate to agree with that statement," Link began, "but... I totally agree with that statement."
Tari's mouth cracked into a slight grin. She was glad that Link was able to brighten the mood a bit. "I'm just... scared we're going to be too late." She gulped. "And... that The Deku Tree will die..."
"Nah, he'll be fine," said a voice from behind them. "He's been holding on strong for a while now. Heh. Haven't seen you in years, Red."
Link and Tari glanced behind them to see a tall, lean man with shaggy, light blond hair. "Oh my Goddess..." Tari said happily. "HIO! You're... You're alive!"
The blond Sheikah man laughed. "Am I ever. This place is crazy."
"But..." Link stammered, "we assumed you've been down here for weeks..."
"Nah. Only since last night," Hio replied. "I mostly stayed with the kids up there for the past couple weeks, trying to fend off those creepy shadow things. We finally figured out that the problem was coming from down here..."
Tari smiled. "Never thought I'd say this, but I really am glad you're here."
A cocky grin formed on Hio's face. "I didn't think you'd ever say it either, Red."
Link thought a moment. He assumed he called her "Red" because of her gingery hair. But more importantly, he recalled Kioshi saying something about how Hio can control shadows...
"So, um..." Link began, "what's all this talk about you being able to control shadows?" He for some reason felt a bit dumb asking that.
Hio smiled. "That, my friend, will have to wait until we get out of this mess. That Deku Tree may be strong, but I guess he can't keep holding on forever." He walked ahead of Link and Tari a moment, as if leading them somewhere. "Ready to face Queen Ghoma?"
Tari and Link exchanges glances. "'Ghoma,' as in... the spider-like creature?" Tari questioned. "I didn't think they were that harmful..."
"They usually aren't," Hio replied. "It's the Darkness that's polluting Hyrule... It's possessing creatures like the Gohmas. It's probably what's causing those dark shadow-like creatures to appear."
"Shadow Beasts, is apparently the technical term," Link said. "We've made friends with a couple Twili who say they know of such monsters."
"Hm..." Hio muttered to himself thoughtfully. "That isn't good... Evil in just Hyrule is bad enough, but when you bring the Realm of Darkness into it..."
Tari sighed to herself as they continued to follow Hio through the many confusing turns of the corridor. "You've heard the stories of the Legendary Hero, right?" she asked Hio. She glanced over at Link and smiled. "You know, the one man who is destined to save Hyrule from evil, and everything?"
Link grinned, knowing exactly where Tari as going with her story.
"Yes," Hio replied, "in fact I do. I know that when this 'hero' is finally discovered, he'll have one hell of a time trying to recover this mess."
"Well, I think I've done pretty well so far," Link said rather confidently.
Hio turned to face him, his dark amethyst eyes wide. "You are the hero?" he asked, a bit shocked.
"The one and only," Tari replied. "I discovered him just yesterday."
Hio blinked a few times, then held out his hand. "It's.. well, I guess it's an honor to meet you, uhm..."
"Link," the young hero replied, shaking Hio's hand.
"Great to meet you, Link," Hio said kindly. "Well... honestly, I'd love to get to know you a bit more, but... we should probably find that Queen Gohma..."
The three of them froze when they heard a piercing scream from just up ahead.
"Oh my... Kioshi!" Tari cried, running forward, followed by Link.
Hio gasped. "Kioshi's here?" he asked, both happily and anxiously.
"Just... Come on!" Tari shouted impatiently, grabbing Hio by the arm and dragging him along after her.