THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: RE-IMAGINED~
CHAPTER 22
"Lost in the Woods"
Link asked Auru as they walked out of the cave and into the settlement, "Then how do you explain how Lana's Tome works then?"
"Ah yes," the older man replied, "objects such as her tome are magical conductors. They've been enchanted to amplify or expedite the magical process. In her case, her spellbook also doubles as a material component as she uses the pages for some of her spells, if you recall."
"Okay, I get it," the young man affirmed as he rubbed his chin. Just then, two sky-blue-haired women walked up to them. They were the sisters, Cia and Lana. The two ladies carried with them bags of supplies, some of them were even the bags of treasure from the Arbiter's Grounds.
"These are for your travels," Cia insisted as she and Lana inserted several bags into Link's hands, "These have food, bandages, various necessities, treasures, and the gratitude of my sister and I."
The man hoisted two of the bags over his right shoulder—the ones with treasure in them—but held in his left hand the bag with the food and other such things.
"Thank you very much!" he exclaimed. He looked at them for a moment and noticed that they hadn't brought any other bags with them. He asked, "Wait, doesn't Auru get anything?"
"Oh, no, I'm not leaving just yet," Auru explained, "I need to rest up a little bit longer before I go. But when I do, I'll be headed straight for Hyrule Castle Town. Link, the next time you see me, it'll be at Telma's Bar. Meet up with us there when you make it to Castle Town. It would be a detriment to our group if we did not reconvene with you present, as we did last time. From what I've seen, you are very much necessary for what we're trying to accomplish."
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Link replied, "though I have no idea where I'm going next. I have the three pendants, but where do I go from here? Sahasrahla never told me."
Auru smiled and said, "Luck is on your side, for I know where you're to go, and it's close by. Head to the Lost Woods, found deep in the forest of Faron. If you can find your way to the deepest part of the woods, you'll have made it to your destination. Be careful, though, the Lost Woods are a trial all their own similar to both the Desert of Doubt and the Arbiter's Grounds. Many have walked in only to never return."
"Lost Woods, Faron, make sure to return; got it," Link spoke as if to make a mental checklist of things he needed to do. With that he gave a smile and a nod and started his walk toward the pass that lead back into Hyrule.
Lana ran forward a few steps and called out, "Wait! You're going to leave, just like that?"
Link stopped briefly, gazed over his left shoulder, and said, "I'm not one for big goodbyes," after which he faced forward again and restarted his walk. After a few steps, he kept going but calmly yelled to them, "I'll be back to visit, you'll see!"
And thus the hero departed. Moments after Link walked away, Auru commented to Cia and Lana, "There is never a dull moment when he's around."
"That's true," Lana added.
"He certainly livened up the place, that's for sure," Cia stated also.
Lana turned to her sister and added, "He's be a bit hard-headed, though."
"He can be pretty insensitive at times too, but I respect how direct he is," Cia admitted.
"And all this excitement can't be good for my health," Auru stated as he rubbed his shoulders, "Tell me, is it true that the Zuna Tribe are masters of the massage?"
"Ah, yes, let me take you to Wayfah, she'll take good care of you," Cia stated as she led Auru to one of the tents in the settlement. Lana had been left alone as she continued to gaze off at the settlement entrance. She frowned as she placed a hand on her other arm and rubbed it sheepishly. A wrinkled hand found its way onto Lana's shoulder, which nearly caused her to leap from her own skin.
"What's wrong Lana, dear?" It was the Matriarch, Hateya, "You look like something terrible has happened."
"It's not that, Matriarch," Lana tried, "it's just... I've gone so many years obsessing over the hero of legend that... when the real thing came here, did something heroic and amazing, and then he just walks away like it's no big deal... I don't know how to feel. I wanted to say so much more... I wanted more time with him..."
The old woman let out an elderly chuckle as she slowly hobbled around to the other side of Lana. She posed a question, "With whom did you truly want to spend more time with? The hero of legend? Or Link?"
Lana's eyes widened and she shot her glance to the Tribal Mother whom had already begun to walk away. The question was not one that required an immediate answer, which Lana recognized right away. It was more to provoke thought on Lana's part, and it worked very effectively as she began to introspect on her true goals and intentions. She knew that she'd arrive at the answer sooner or later whether or not it was right then or there. She smiled and was grateful for her matriarch's guidance, as it had already cheered her up some. It might be best for her to think on such a subject at another time. She decided that she'd go join Cia and Auru and hopefully get a relaxing massage herself.
The young man trekked through the Desert Pass and came upon the view of a lush, green landscape that blanketed across the horizon. Dozens of mountain ranges, rolling hills, and even several rivers visible from this viewpoint. Link had never been so happy to see grass again. He took a deep breath of the refreshing, cool air and with a sigh of satisfaction continued forward. He came to the point where he had left his horse, Epona, but didn't see her anywhere.
"Lil' scamp must've run off somewhere," Link said as he placed his bags on the ground for a brief moment. He lifted his hands to his mouth and performed a whistle call that he knew for certain would summon the spirited horse back to him. In no time at all, he could hear the energetic neighs as they approached from the distance. Soon enough he could see the form of a majestic horse gallop towards him at full speed. Link took his bags and went to meet Epona as she arrived to answer his call. The young man attached his bags to Epona's saddle and then lifted himself onto the saddle. He patted and stroked the mane of the beast a few times as he gave her words of praise. He grabbed the reins and the horse reared into the air as she plowed her hooves into the soft dirt and took off at great speed. It would only be a matter of hours to reach the forest, but the sun was still high and he had plenty of time to spare.
As the hero rode through the fields, he and his horse would soon be overcome by a sea of trees as they made their way into the heart of Faron. He came to a clearing and slowed the horse down to a stop. He knew this clearing very well. If he headed West he would eventually reach the Ordona province, and by extension, Ordon Village.
I'll stop by and check up on them before I head to Telma's, Link decided to himself. He tugged on the reins and guided Epona to turn and head further into the woods. After a minute or two, Link began to recognize the patch of forest he rode through; it was his old training ground from his youth. He slowed as saw a few withered scarecrow dummies that were set up to help him practice his techniques. He remembered them both fondly and painfully, as their usage was bittersweet for Link. He prompted Epona to speed up as they passed the point of his recollection and farther than that. He had entered a section of the forest he had never seen before.
The canopy overhead was so dense with leaves and branches that as Link ventured further into the forest, the light of the sun and the sky would vanish into a deep shade. This was brand new territory for Link, he did not know what to expect. The light of day was only visible in the distance behind him, past the trees. From under the cover of the canopy, it appeared as though the darkened forest spanned out for miles. The young man slowed the horse's gait to better maneuver around the uneven terrain that was shrouded with brushes, rocks, and thistles. He heard all manner of unfamiliar noises that rang throughout the woods, including overhead. There came a point where Link felt as through he were being watched. He looked all around his immediate vicinity, but saw nothing. As he ventured even further in, the bustling noises of the forest ceased abruptly.
The young man interpreted the sudden, abnormal silence as an omen. Just then, Epona stopped dead in her tracks and reared back which nearly hurled her rider to the floor had he not tightly yanked onto the reins. He focused his vision on what was ahead, but couldn't clearly make out what waited for him. He climbed down from Epona as his boots crunched as they landed on blades of grass and snapped a few fragile twigs. He knew that Epona would not go any further, he figured it was some sort of animal "sixth sense." From here on out, he was to continue on foot. He fearlessly soldiered on for a while longer. Eventually, he realized that Epona was no longer visible to him when he turned around to look for her.
It was then that he noticed something rather unmissable. After a certain point, Link met with an incredibly dense wall of fog. He looked to the left and to the right and saw the fog spread across a large portion of the forest over a very wide, but specific perimeter, as if it guarded something.
This must be the place, Link wondered, This is literally the point of no return.
"Hello, Lost Woods," Link greeted no one in particular with a smirk on his face, "The name's Link; pleasure to make your acquaintance."
With that unseen and unheard gesture of politeness out of the way, Link stepped forward and disappeared into the fog. It looked the same on the inside as it did on the outside, thick to the point of near-zero visibility. The fog was so dense that if he reached his arm all the way out with fingers extended, his fingertips would vanish. He tried to proceed carefully but would have to suddenly change his path whenever a tree suddenly appeared within elbow room of him. He could not see anything. His adventurous journey had been reduced to an overly cautious crawl.
After twenty minutes of this, Link couldn't tell how far he had gone since he entered the fog, and stopped where he was. He started to feel twinges of regret deep inside with the occasional inner call to try and go back the way he came, but he blocked it out. He looked around and saw nothing but the fog.
"I'm getting nowhere with this!" Link frustratedly exclaimed. He then sat down, crossed his arms, and decided to think about his scenario.
How do I find my way through? he pondered, Obviously, merely 'walking forward' the whole time will amount to nothing. I could've ended up going in a different direction a while ago.
He closed his eyes and focused. Almost out of nowhere, the thought hit him: what if he tried to sense his way through? This was something he had never done before, but he had an inkling about how it could work. He's been able to sense evil auras before, so perhaps he could repurpose that sensation and use it to guide himself through the woods. He determined it was the only option he had left. He centered himself and concentrated on his inner energies and used that to try and feel the world around him. He tried to perceive his environment without ears, eyes, or smells. He placed the palm of his hand down onto the ground in front of him as he rubbed his fingers through the grass.
He felt a tingle. He focused on that quick sensation and made his feelings reach out towards it. He felt it a second time, and latched on to it with the "eyes" of his spirit. It was then that he could "see" the life-force of the forest. There were various energies all around him, he could sense it all for the first time. He could feel the earth beneath him, dozens of trees around him hidden amidst the fog, and he could even sense the fog itself as it carried an unusual, but harmless, energy of its own. It was a strange power the fog displayed, but it wasn't evil in nature. With his physical eyes still closed, Link raised his head and sensed ahead of him to gauge the different energies he could find.
He couldn't find anything ahead of him that was different, as it was mostly trees and other plants, but suddenly he caught something off to the left. It was faint, but there was something very different about one of the energies he sensed. He could tell there was something special about it. As if on cue, the energy moved away from him. Surprised, Link shot his eyes open and looked into the direction that he felt that aura from.
"Tag, I'm it."
He leaped to his feet and ran into the direction of that special aura. Even though he now used his eyes, he could still sense the environment around him. Link quickly swerved out of the way of trees he couldn't see, and skipped over rocks that he shouldn't have known were there. As he ran, he caught the feel of that special aura again. This time, he locked onto it, and burst into full sprint as he pursued it with great verve. As he chased the aura, he could feel it zip back and forth quite speedily as it rushed to get away from him. As this happened, Link familiarized himself with the aura; he quickly figured out that it couldn't be humanoid as its movement patterns didn't match up with any bipedal race he knew of. Beyond even that, it seemed to be... flying. Whenever the aura curved into a crazy turn, Link followed. When it zig-zagged, Link ran down the middle while he estimated where it would go.
Link started to break into a sweat, but his adrenaline pumped as well. Whatever it was he chased, he was excited to find out what it was. He was also overjoyed by the new use of his abilities and wanted to see how far he could push this new range of power. Again, almost as if to spite his mental processes, the aura sped off even faster than before. Even at full sprinting speed, Link knew he wouldn't be able to catch it. He had to come up with something to catch up.
He decided to take a gamble and push this whole Force concept into something he could most certainly get mileage out of. He tried to focus his Force energies into his leg muscles and his back muscles. He commanded it to energize and amplify every ligament, muscle fiber, and joint that were located in those areas. Suddenly, he felt a surge of power course through his spinal cord and thighs like electricity. His pace had quickened by a solid margin. He was quite impressed by this. Though he quickly discovered this was at a cost; he had a far more difficult time sensing the environment around him, such as the trees. He could still track the special aura, but avoiding the trees and other forest impediments would be much more difficult.
With this newly discovered limit on the bandwidth of Force usage, Link threw caution to the wind and cut loose. He zipped forward on pace with the aura ahead of him, indifferent to any obstacles that may put a sudden stop to this chase. He could feel the wind rush past him almost akin to the sensation of riding horseback. With adrenaline and Force boosted power combined, Link began to gain on the aura.
Almost as if thrown into a panic, the aura frenzied into another zigzag pattern where all of a sudden... it stopped.
Link broke his pace instantly, and tried to skid to a halt until his foot got caught on a large root from a nearby tree which launched him forward, head over heels into a shrubbery at high speed. After a few moments of painful groans, the man slowly climbed out and brushed the leaves and sticks off his outfit.
"That was a pleasant stop..." he gave sarcastically as he rubbed his hurting left arm, "Wait, where's that aura...?"
The power he had sent to his back and legs ebbed, thus he repurposed said power back into sensing his environment. He felt the special aura again, it was only a few dozen yards away. He walked to it and came upon a thick oak tree, the base of which was where the aura sat. He got close enough to where a bush was visible to his eyes, and he sensed the aura within it. Link knelt down to reach into the brush when all of a sudden, a ball of light sprung out of the plant.
With the sound of a high-pitched voice, it screamed, "AAGH! DON'T EAT ME! I DON'T TASTE GOOD, I PROMISE!"
Surprised, Link fell backwards onto the ground as the ball of light whipped around behind the tree, though it must've been disoriented as it made a full circle and ended up back in front of Link. Upon seeing him a second time, it squealed and and rammed itself straight into the tree. After it did this, the light ball lifelessly fell back into the brush. Link remained there for a moment, unsure of what just happened. He sat up, and and slowly crawled to the bush. He carefully placed his hands on the side of the bush and pushed away some branches and leaves and peered in.
Inside was the little ball of light, which Link then noticed had wings. It sat there as if it were lying down, perhaps even unconscious. He gently reached in to grab the poor thing. When he felt his hand make contact with it, he was surprised to find out what it was really shaped like. As he carefully pulled it out, he could see it even closer up than before. The little thing resembled a very tiny human girl, but with wings like a dragonfly but far more fragile looking. She even had a little dress on; she almost resembled a doll that human girls liked to play with. She glowed brightly, which made her look like a winged ball at a distance. The man examined the little creature further and noticed that she seemed hurt. Link sat against the large root of the tree and took off his hat. He placed the creature inside his hat, hoping the warmth would help wake her.
He then remembered an old trick he learned from his time in the forest years ago, where he found an unconscious squirrel. He placed his finger on its chest cavity and pushed just enough so that he could essentially perform CPR on the animal to save its life. He decided to use that trick again here. He gently pushed on the chest cavity of this tiny, winged girl. After half a minute of doing this, the girl began to stir. With a few coughs befitting a creature of her diminutive stature, she slowly awoke to what she saw as a very large, menacing man who looked down on her with hunger. As she tried to make her disorganized effort of an escape, Link closed his hat to seal her in.
The squeaky, high-pitched voice spoke again, "Oh, please don't eat me! Please don't eat me! I taste terrible!" Which was then followed by several cries and distraught wails of similar pitch. Upon hearing such a pitiful noise, Link felt pretty bad about the whole ordeal.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to eat you," Link assured as gently as he could. When he said this, his hat stopped its endless activity.
"Y-y-you won't?"
"No, of course not. I make it a habit to avoid eating anything that can talk back to me," Link gave with a chuckle as a sort of lighthearted remark. As a good measure of his good will, he slowly unraveled his hat to reveal the creature to him again. She looked incredibly sad, like a lost little girl whom had been separated from her parents.
The little winged girl inquired, "Who are you...?"
To which our hero replied, "I'm Link. What's your name?"
"Navi," the little ball sputtered as she tried to wipe her tear-stained face.
Link gently cupped her into his right hand and raised her up to his eye level. She sat on the palm of his hand like a children's toy.
"I've never seen anyone quite like you before, Navi," Link started, "may I ask what you are?"
"You've never seen a Fairy before?"
"A fairy?!" Link repeated, amazed. He said, "I've heard of Fairies, but I never once thought they were real. I thought they were just stories old people told children to make them laugh."
"Well, as you can see," Navi piped up as she slowly stood up on Link's palm and dusted off her adorable little dress, "I'm very much real."
Link tilted his head and asked, "Are you okay?"
Navi turned her little head and examined her beautiful wings. With a quick flutter, she found that she was just fine. She gave Link a cheerful nod of affirmation and rapidly flapped her wings to lift herself into the air. The buzzing sound of her wings sounded like a bug's.
Link spoke, "I'm glad to see you're fine. I do want to know why you ran away from me, though."
Navi fluttered around his face and answered, "We Fairies can tell when someone can see us, whether it be by magic or normal eyesight. When I noticed you could sense me, I was afraid you'd want to hurt me, so I flew away."
Link felt remorseful and asked, "I guess it didn't help when I actually chased you... did it?"
She shook her head with lots of zeal.
Link closed his eyes and apologized.
"It's OK, I forgive you," the little fairy said with a much happier tone, "You're nicer than I thought you'd be. A lot nicer than the last human who came through here."
"Last human?"
"Yeah, he had the power to sense things like you did. So when you sensed me, I thought either he had come back or it was a monster that ate fairies... I was mostly concerned about the monst—"
Link had to stop her right there, "Hold your horses for a minute. First, you could tell that I sensed you?"
"All us Fairies can tell when other lifeforms are aware of us. It's a special defense mechanism we have."
Link raised two fingers and asked, "And secondly, there was another human who came before me, and whom could sense you too?"
"He sure could. He caused a lot trouble for us, and especially for the Great Deku Tree!"
The young man quickly dismissed the term Great Deku Tree as Fairy jargon and kept on the point of the other man, "What did he do?"
"He came in and threatened the Great Deku Tree! I didn't hear exactly what he said, but ever since then... the Great Deku Tree has acted less... happy than before. He even asked me to stay in this part of the forest and lookout for a special person."
Link raised an eyebrow and asked, "What kind of special person are we talking about?"
"If I remember correctly, the Great Deku Tree wants someone who can wield a special weapon that can destroy evil," the fairy explained.
Link folded his arms as if in thought and spoke, "A special weapon that can destroy evil? And a man who threatened this Tree friend of yours—"
"The Great Deku Tree," Navi quickly corrected.
"Right, this 'Great Deku Tree'... and he's looking for someone who can wield that weapon?"
"In summary, yes," Navi answered.
"Did you catch the man's name?"
"Actually, I did! It was Agah—"
"Agahnim," Link said in unison with the fairy, which surprised her.
"Wait a minute! How did you know...?"
"And let me guess, this special weapon you're referring to. It's called the Master Sword, isn't it?"
Her eyes lit up, and her whole body glowed brightly like a firefly.
"Are you the person the Great Deku Tree told me to watch for?!"
"I don't know, am I? I came here because I was told I need the Master Sword to destroy that man, Agahnim."
"Then you must be the person the Great Deku Tree told me to watch for! You need to go see him, Link! In fact, I can take you to him! Follow me!"
"Lead the way, my little glowing friend," Link offered as he stood and placed his hat back on his head. Navi started through the foggy wilderness with Link right behind her. Even though led by a fairy, it was still a short while before he saw any notable differences in the environment. He walked with her until the fog began to clear. Soon, Link was greeted by the appearance of vivid sunlight. A lush, green forest clearing appeared before him. It was massive, with various trees-turned houses that lined all around the forest meadow. At the very edge of the clearing was a tree so massive, Link wondered how he had never seen it from the outside of the forest before.
Navi called excitedly, "Come, Link! Come meet the Great Deku Tree!"
Link followed her further in as particles of flowers and fairy dust littered the air around him. As he walked he felt the sensation that he was being watched, but decided to ignore it for the time being.
There were large stones placed on the ground, which created a sort of makeshift altar in front of the gargantuan tree. The stones were completely covered in vines and small roots. As Link drew close, he inspected the giant tree. It actually had a sort of "face" to it, like a man's. Bushy eyebrows, a nose with mustache, and a lower lip as part of the mouth. Link chuckled to himself as to how childish it was to envision a face on the tree.
"Pray tell, what doth thou find humorous?"
The sudden low rumble and boom of a question originated from above and fell down to Link's ears. He looked up to see the tree's face move and speak like a living creature. His eyes widened in shock at the prospect and stumbled backwards, his mouth agape.
Navi flew up to the tree's face and greeted, "Great Deku Tree!"
"Navi the fairy, thou hast brought with thee a guest," the tree spoke with a slow tempo, as if every word had to be forced through the hollows of a wooded structure.
She fluttered about like an excited child, "I think this might be the special person you were looking for!"
"I see," the massive tree uttered, "I could say his energy felt different than that of a normal man."
Navi flew back down to Link, whom was still in complete shock.
"Link, I'd like you to meet the Great Deku Tree!"
"...Uh...uh..." was all Link could muster in his mouth.
"Ah, yes. Thou art the wielder of the Triforce of Courage as Ordon once spoke of."
Link was pulled from his awestruck stupor to ask a question, "Ordon? You mean, the Light Spirit? That Ordon?"
"The very same. Allow me introduce myself, Hero of Light, I am the Great Deku Tree. Thou may already know of me by mine other name, Faron."
"YOU'RE FARON?!"
"I am. To Hyrule I am Light Spirit of the Faron Province; yet to the denizens of this forest, I am their watchful protector, the Great Deku Tree."
Link exclaimed, "I didn't expect the Light Spirit to be a tree of all things!"
"Though I understand thy curiosity, our time grows short."
Link felt the tone shift in the voice of the forest spirit and then shook himself into a more serious state of mind, "Right. I'm here for the Master Sword; Agahnim must be destroyed."
"Thou understand thy goal, yet thou hast not the understanding of the gravity of the sword itself."
"What do you mean?"
The Great Tree began to explain, "The Master Sword is the blade beyond all blades. It canst not be wielded by just any man. Thou might not but be chosen by it. The sword chooses its master."
Link replied, "The sword has a will of its own? Well, I need it, so it has to choose me."
"There are two factors for't to choose thou as its master. Firstly, thou must possess the three Pendants of Virtue," the great tree explained.
Link reached into his satchel and held out all three by their bands and said, "Got 'em. What's the second factor?"
The spirit responded carefully, "Thou must possess Excellence of Soul."
Link was confused by Faron's words and asked, "Excellence of soul? What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Thou mayest be familiar with the terminology, 'pure of heart'. They art one and the same. If thou doth lack the excellence of soul, thou mayest not draw the blade of evil's bane from its resting place. The blade itself shall reject thee."
"So," Link began, "even if I have all these shiny do-dads, the sword might not let me take it... because I'm not... pure of heart?"
The massive tree hummed in affirmation.
"Okay then," Link said before he asked, "So... where is it?"
The man looked all around and saw no apparent blade. Though there was a lump of vines that stuck out from the altar at his feet. He stepped up to it and ripped the vines off to reveal the ancient weapon he'd sought plunged deep into a stone pedestal. The weapon was so old, its color had faded away. What was once a blue hilt was now tinted a pale blue-gray. A faded green gemstone placed in the section where the blade inserted into the hilt. The blade itself looked withered and old, chipped and cracked, the edges looked dull and useless. Link saw it and was severely unimpressed at the decrepit state of the weapon.
"...This is it, huh? Right..."
He stepped up and placed both hands on the grip of the hilt. He readied his muscles and began to pull with all his might...
...yet the blade did not budge. He strained, struggled, pulled, and yanked. He did not even managed to disturb the dust that rested on the broad section of the blade.
"Woah, it's stuck in there pretty good," Link commented, slightly out of breath. He wanted to try again, this time with the employment of the technique he figured out in the forest, where he used Force to amplify his abilities. He figured if he could run faster with it, surely he could improve his lifting strength with it, too.
He focused his energies into his arms and back with a small amount put into his legs for stability. He mentally counted to three and began to pull. As soon as he did, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his arms, into his spine, and down his legs. In no time at all, he felt as though every single muscle fiber and ligament were on fire. His veins coursed with electric shocks, his bones shook violently, the wind was sucked from his lungs, and his vision began to blur and haze. In burning pain, Link struggled and exerted even more effort. The harder he tried, the worse the pain became. Despite this, the man psyched himself up to try and produce more power to increase his strength. As he soldiered through the agony yo increase his power output, he felt an even stronger sensation shoot through his body:
He could only describe this new sensation as a deathly chill. During this chill, the power he put into his body began to drain through his palms and fingertips. He could tangibly feel his lifeforce being pulled from his body, through his hands, and siphoned into the sword. Concerned that this ordeal may in fact kill him, Link reluctantly conceded and released his grasp on the hilt. Once he let go, the sword released a kinetic energy wave which launched Link eight feet away, onto his back. Everything in him ached, and he wanted to scream as he tried to prop himself up to look at the sword from his spot on the dirt.
Just then, the Great Deku Tree spoke slowly and ominously, "Thou doth lack the Excellence of Soul; the Master Sword hast rejected thee as its master."
It was then that Link truly understood the gravity which the tree spirit spoke of. This truly was the weapon of a pure-hearted, legendary hero, as no mere common man could simply take it up and walk away. He felt its power, it was more than he expected which also put into perspective the power of Agahnim since this was the weapon needed to beat him. All the trials Link had gone though up until this point meant nothing and were all in vain simply because he lacked the Excellence of Soul. Devoid of any possible chance for success, Link lost hope from this moment. The pain he felt began to subside as he sat up and came back to himself.
"So," he tried with a cough, "that's it, then... It's over..."
All was silent in the forest. The tree spoke no words. Navi stayed quiet and slowly fluttered to the ground as Link had to come to terms with his circumstances.
"All that work... pointless. Everything I've done to get this far was a complete waste of time! Everyone who decided to gamble on my success, they lost... Auru, Lana and Cia, Impa, Viscen, Nick, Ilia, Ashei, Shad, Sahasrahla, Aryll... Zel... I let them all down... I let myself down..."
Link solemnly gazed over at Navi, whom wore a concerned expression on her face.
"I let you down, too," he said, his voice grated with remorse. He felt weak from his attempt to take the sword, and sank back to lie down on the earth, depressed.
"I might as well just lay down and die... It's all meaningless..."
As he lay there, his eyelids grew heavy and he fell unconscious.
End of Chapter