Skull

Link left the room and climbed up the ladder and entered through a massive door.

The door closed behind Link, leaving him in a massive, circular room. He could tell he was almost at the top of the massive half-tree. He kept his sword raised, ready for anything. Smoke rose up from the hole below, slowly filling the room more and more. Link feared he would suffocate in this tree if he didn't find the final holes. He let out a small cough as some of the mystical black smoke filled his lungs. The room was growing more hazy by the minute, but he could not see any hole, doors, or signs of either. He was trapped.

He took a few feeble steps forward, and looked ahead," Is anyone here?"

"Teehee, yes! I would ask to play, but I can see you are an outsider to the forest. I don't like that." a small child's voice replied," Well, I know what you're doing. I'm good at figuring out things. I can plainly see you're trying to set the fire back again. The final holes are right above your head, but I want let you reach them too easily and force my forest friends to go back into the thick forest of no return. But, I only think it's fair, that since you've traveled so far and played hard, that I give you a chance before you choke on the air that the fire emits. I'll let you play one game with me, that I know I'll win. It'll be a game of tag, and you try to tag me, by killing me! ...If you can!" it explained, it's words dying into an insane laughter.

Link shivered and listened to the laughter for a moment. A Skullkid fell from no where and twisted it's head in an odd angle. IT held a pale, blue lamp. It was just laughing away, not fleeing form Link's presence.

More smoke filled Link's lungs, making him cough, and making his eyes water. The air was becoming more wamrer and dry.

Then something strange caught Link's attention in the Skull kid's laughter. Had it gotten deeper? The pale blue lantern started to turn yellow a second after Link's discovery, and the laugh became deeper. The lamp turned orange, and then an angry red. THe Skullkid's laugh was now very deep, like a deep-voiced, large man. It scared Link.

"I see that you're scared," it said in a booming voice," then you don't belong in this fight, but it's too late!" he laughed again, and disappeared, leaving the room pitch black.

Link yelped in surprise and fell back on his bottom. He coughed as he took in another breath of hot smoke. He pushed himself up, and pointed his sword out into the darkness, his heart thumping madly.

"Still scared? How about we start this game now!" the kid said from the darkness. It's voice sounded louder, deeper, and more threatening." Are you going to tag me now?"

"I-" Link was cut off as a massive Skullkid face appeared, glaring at him evilly.

"Come and try, you dirty outsider!" It taunted.

Link cried out and ran forward, swinging his sword, leaving a mark across it's chin. But the thing was so huge, the mark almost looked small.

The creature laughed and ran into him, sending him flying back into the wall with a tremendous force.

Link groaned and fell to the ground, his back now aching. Why was this so hard? Why was this monster in particular so large? Link grew angrier at the thought and stood back up, pointing his sword at the beast.

"I may be an outsider, but I can try, and I can win!" Link told it in a determined voice.

"Whatever, fool!" the thing retorted.

Link gave a loud battle cry like earlier and lunged at it, planning to stab it deeply. There was a loud laugh, and the next thing Link knew, he was up against the wall again.

"Ugh, I hate this..." Link muttered, slowly regaining his footing, raising his sword up.

"Ha, you're too weak. In fact, I find this too boring. How 'bout I make some fight matches?" he mused.

Link raised a brow," What are you saying?"

"I'll show you!" the Skullhead said, his glare turning into a grin. He opened his mouth, and several wooden soldiers with swords marched out, looking ready to kill. Link frowned, tensing his body up. More kept coming out. At the end, there were at least thirty.

"Soldiers one, two, three, and four, get him!" the head cried.

The four warriors charged at Link, swing their swords like crazy. Link jumped out of the way, dodging the lethal attacks. Then he was hit from behind as a fifth soldier joined the din.

He screamed and flew forward, hitting the ground and rolling a few feet. His back was on fire, probably something was broke. He grabbed hold and closed his eyes, curling up, trying to bear the pain. He could hear the soldiers coming in for the final blow. It was useless.

Then, like it had before, the feeling over-took him. The odd sort of feeling, like someone had grabbed his brain and started to control it. It was not like when the shadow made him kill his friends. That feeling was full of pure hatred and it was cruel. This feeling seemed almost calm. Brave and in charge, like the upcoming fight was going to be a piece of cake.

He stood up, pushing past his pain, and looked at the oncoming wooden men. He pointed his sword at them, and attacked.

He lunged forward, reaching his foes in an instant, and swung, slicing one's head off. He kicked the body, sending it into another warrior. He blocked several attacks coming at him in all directions, and ducked as one swung for his head. He swung again and cut through one's leg, sending it stumbling back onto his bottom.

The next few minutes were full of shattering wood and flying splinters. Link hacked through enemy after enemy, keeping other swords at bay with his shield the whole while. Eventually, he had defeated them all.

"So, you killed them all. But don't worry, there's more where that came from! After all, you can never have enough friends!" the head joked, his voice seeming almost lighter.

Link frowned as three times as many soldiers marched out, their swords raised in a formal fashion. But they all had shields! Link pointed his sword at the nearest and swung vertically as hard as he good. He hit the shield, but it did not break. Instead, it only left a little mark.

Link snarled and blocked another attack with his shield from another warrior. They were starting to surround him!

He turned his gaze to one in particular, who had it's sword raised up, and shield down to the side.

Link cried out and jumped at it, swinging and leaving a large slash across it's chest. The attack caught the warrior off balance, and Link was quick to remove it's head with a quick upward swing.

The head hit the floor and rolled across it, tripping a soldier who was running in to join the fight.

Link saw one swinging from the corner of his eye, so he brought his sword up, taking in the force of the blow through the wooden protector. He brought his sword up, deflecting another attack. Soon, swords were swinging all around him. He blocked and swung, but to no avail. There were just too many of them.

Then one hit him, sending him back into the wall.

Link yelled in pain, it hitting him in the chest. He groaned and pulled his shirt down to see a bloodied bruise. He touched it and filched, the raw skin stinging.

He coerced himself to stand, and raise his sword up, only to see the crowd of foes had gathered around him.

He caught his breath, his muscles growing stiff from all the action. He had to kill the Skullkid. Or, Skullhead. Either way, he could not keep this up.

He jumped into the crowd, swinging his sword, making impact with several, but killing only fewer. He sprinted forward, ducking and doging, jumping out of the way from wooden blades, running straight towards the eerie light let off by the thing's large, round eyes.

He broke free from the crowd and made it up to the monster," That's it, I'm finishing this!" he exclaimed, swinging his sword, cutting deeply by the other slash.

The head laughed and attempted to ram him into the wall like he had done earlier. But Link had expected it from previous experience, and jumped several feet back. He ran forward again, swinging his sword like a mad-man, cutting and stabbing, yelling at the top of his lungs.

He jumped and ran, avoiding every attack the head tried. By the time he had tired out, the bottom of the head was full of little holes and long, deep cuts. A weird, brown blood leaked from it's wounds.

Link breathed heavily, his muscles even more stiff. He looked over toward the door, expecting to see several wooden men, but they were all gone. He turned to face the head again, his chest rising and falling.

"I guess I underestimated you. That kinda hurt." It told him honestly, it's voice seeming even less monster-like." So, I guess I can let you by. Since you've reached the end, I don't think the title 'outsider' is necessary. You fight really good."

By that time, the feeling had worn off, leaving Link in his usual state-of-mind. He coughed, his lungs filling up with more smoke, rising up from the cracks around the hatches,"Alright, how do I open the holes below me?" he asked weakly.

"I will open them for you!" he offered, giving a small laugh before disappearing. In the same instant, the coverings over the holes vanished, letting a huge cloud of smoke rise up, and light to fill the room.

Link spotted the ladder at the end, and ran towards it, coughing all the way.