The Legend of Zelda: Time Gate
Chapter 25: Twilight Take-Two
The Kokiri Forest.
Home to the fairies and the Kokiri children themselves.
It was also the place where I grew up.
Where I had met Mido, Saria, the Know-it-All Brothers, and all the other people I had been forced to live with. Especially Mido.
"Listen, I don't want to be seen while I'm there, you got that?" I asked Mitsuhiro. "It's bad enough that I'm even setting foot in this place!"
Mitsuhiro, Uzuki, and Yashiro began to walk across the bridge leading to the forest gate. Mitsuhiro groaned.
"Listen, it's bad enough that we have to stay in this world for another mission," he grumbled. "But please, don't complain? The Kokiri children don't grow up. You do, so it's not like they're going to recognize you."
"Alright, but just to be safe..." I pulled my goggles over my eyes, took my hat off (something that I pretty much never do), tied bandages around my entire left arm, instead of just over my Triforce, and made sure I was wearing as many shuriken holsters as possible.
Shuto gave me a funny look. "Listen, the moment we step foot into the gate, we're stepping into the twilight. The Kokiri are going to be spirits. It's not like it makes any difference."
"Listen, do you know what Mido said to me when I left?" I asked in a low voice. "'Leave for Hyrule... and never come back!'. That kid hates my guts, and I hate him! I shouldn't even be here!"
"I don't want to see Link when he's an adult...," Uzuki muttered to Yashiro.
"I heard that!" I growled.
"Stop being so grumpy Link-kun," Yashiro laughed, and punched my shoulder. I was pretty sure I heard my shoulder bone snap.
"Hey, careful!" I laughed back. "Unlike you, my bones are actually fragile!"
"No problem, Link-kun!" It was strange, the way Uzuki and Yashiro addressed their friends. I didn't really understand it, but I think I figured it out. Maybe 'chan' was for girls, and 'kun' was for boys? Oh well, I would have to ask them later.
Yashiro punched my shoulder again, and smiled at Uzuki. "Hey, is everyone ready to go into the twilight? Once we go in, it's hard getting back out again."
"No problem!" I snickered. "Too easy!"
Shuto raised his eyebrow, and smiled deviously. "Alright then, how about we raise the stakes a little?"
"Is that really safe at a time like this?" Uzuki asked.
"Don't worry, it'll be easy. Yashiro, Uzuki and I will stay here, and Link and Mitsuhiro have to do the mission! If they succeed, they get day offs for the next three missions! If they fail, well, than they'll have to watch us complete the mission that they couldn't complete. In other words, total humiliation!"
I stared at him with a sarcastic look. I ran up to him, and glared at him in the eyes. Mitsuhiro did the same thing.
"I will never agree to a bet like that!" I growled. Although I could use the day off. I hadn't gotten any sleep in a few days, not since the fire at Lon Lon Ranch. But did I have to work with Mitsuhiro of all people!
"You're asking for death, Kaniji!" Mitsuhiro snapped.
"Mitsuhiro has a point," Uzuki muttered. "This mission is too important to put in the hands of a dangerous bet. You know exactly what happens when those two work together."
"Well, I guess they're going to have to learn how to get along," Shuto snickered. "Because the bet is on!"
Mitsuhiro backed up, and growled. "Listen up, loser." He pointed to me. "I guess we have no choice, but guess what? You aren't allowed to walk any closer to me than five feet, and if you disobey an order, you're getting thrown off a cliff!"
I chuckled, and cracked my knuckles. "And who says I have to listen to you?"
"I'm the leader of the Time Keepers. You're the lowest member right now, so you have to listen to me."
Darn it, I had forgotten all about that. It really sucked that he was the leader. Why couldn't it have been Shuto, or Uzuki, or even Yashiro? And anyways, Shuto was the one that founded the Time Keepers, so why wasn't he the leader?
"Fine, Shuto, I'll go along with your little game," I sighed. "Sheesh, you're even worse than Majora's Mask, and that's saying something!"
"No, don't say that!" Uzuki laughed. She sat down on the bridge, and Yashiro sat next to her.
"I guess we'll hang out here," Shuto laughed, and sat down next to Yashiro. "Go on! The twilight isn't going to wait for you!"
I frowned at him, and he smiled. "You're going to pay for this later!" I growled, and ran inside to the village. Mitsuhiro later followed me, walking at his own slow pace. When I was inside the village, I cringed when I saw all the twilight. I didn't like seeing it surrounding my homeland, where I had grown up. The first thing I wanted to do was find Saria, Mido, and the rest of the gang.
"Mitsuhiro," I said when I saw that he had finally caught up to me. "You should go after the monster, and I should look for the spring." Really, I just wanted to see my old tree house. The farther away I was from him, the better.
Miu perked her head from my bag. At least I wasn't totally alone. I looked at Mitsuhiro. He was staring up at the twilight sky. "Hey, are you going to start looking anytime soon?" I asked him in an angry tone.
"I don't have the map," he replied in a low voice. "Yashiro and Uzuki have it. This is going to take longer than usual."
"So, what are you going to do?" I asked sarcastically. It started to rain. The rain landed right in Mitsuhiro's face, but he didn't care. He just continued to stare up at the sky.
"Rely on my senses and my wits. Think for a second: where would a monster holding a spirit's soul hide in a huge forest?"
I sighed. "Maybe in the Lost Woods?"
"That's a good prediction. In this case, maybe you should be the one to get the monster."
"And why should I?"
"One, because I'm all worn out from the last one in Kakariko. Two, you're the only one who knows the right pathway through the Lost Woods without getting sent back to the beginning again. And three..." He looked at me with a smirk on his face. "Well, I just want to see you get your ass kicked."
I crossed my arms, and smirked back. I knew he was challenging me. "Alright then, you go find the spring, and I'll find the monster, and beat it to a tiny pulp!"
Mitsuhiro laughed with amusement. "Good luck with that." He spread out his wings, and flew off into the darkness of the twilight sky. I would show him that I was stronger. I had to. How else would I get him to stop picking on me?
I looked around the forest, examining all the houses and trees. There were blue flames spread out all throughout Kokiri Village. My friends... turned into spirits. It was sickening, and it made me angry to know that if I didn't save this place, the entire land of Hyrule would look like this.
I walked through the village, watching as the blue flames jumped around with the bodies of the Kokiri children. The spirits that I guessed were the Know-it-All Brothers were all sitting in front of their house, circled around a table. I could see their fairies flying around their heads. Unlike the Kokiri however, they hadn't disappeared.
Maybe I would meet Navi here?
I stopped walking when I found myself in front of my old tree house. Boy, did this place bring back memories. And there was only one question that lingered in my mind from my future self: who the hell put a cow in my room?
I remembered when I lived here, and each day I would play with the Kokiri children. Mido and I would always be mean to each other, and Saria would always try to break up our fights.
And I was always the boy that didn't have a fairy.
So when I got Navi, you can understand that I was filled with joy, but our partnership didn't last forever, and we were soon separated when I left for Termina. I still wanted to see her, and I had a chance of meeting with her here, because this was probably the first place she went to after we were separated. Fairies never liked being separated from the forest for long.
I walked up the sloping cliff towards the entrance to the Lost Woods. I could pretty much see a clear view of the village from here, even a little bit past the trees that led to the Great Deku Tree's home. Sadly, there would be no chance of me seeing him there, thanks to Ganondorf. I was beginning to wonder how the Kokiri children were even surviving without the wisdom of their Deku Tree, but then again, they did have the newborn Deku Tree that had begun to grow. I wondered how he was doing with the Kokiri children, and if they had taken a liking to their new leader.
I checked the sign that was next to the entrance to the Lost Woods.
Do not enter
-Mido
Sure, like I was going to listen to that butthead. Even if the sign was new. I passed the sign, ignoring Mido for the billionth time in my entire life, and entered the woods. The treetops grew over top me, covering up multiple sections of the twilight sky. There weren't any animals around, but I could expect to see Wolfos appearing any minute now.
I take a left, and walk across the platforms through a forest meadow. Each time I came across more doors, I would stop and think about which one was the right one. It had been a long time since I was here, so remembering what path to take was tricky. I eventually went with the right one, and sighed in relief when I wasn't sent back to the start. I wonder why Mido had put up a warning sign for this place? I hadn't seen any monsters yet, and the place seemed just fine considering it was covered in twilight.
After navigating my way through the woods for a few minutes, I did start to notice some things had changed since the last time I was here. There were some new trees, and there were also stray fairies flying around, fairies that didn't belong to a Kokiri child. That had never happened before. Fairies that didn't belong to Kokiri children were either not born yet, or were under the protection of the Deku Tree, like Navi before she became my partner.
As I walked through the forest, I kept my eyes peeled for any sort of monster that might have been holding the soul of the spirit. I flinched a few times when I heard something move, but it was always just a stray fairy flying around. It was strange seeing stray fairies here, and not in Clock Town.
A Short Interlude
Mitsuhiro walked around the gigantic dead Deku Tree, the new Deku Tree growing suspicious of him. He knew that the previous Deku Tree looked gloomy after it died to begin with, but with the twilight added, it looked haunting, and sad.
"Can you please leave?" the little Deku Tree wailed. "You're making me nervous!" The only reason Mitsuhiro could see the tree in the twilight was because it was a plant, and it didn't have a soul like a regular human or fairy did.
"Tell me, is there a spring around here?" Mitsuhiro asked for the tenth time that day.
"Why should I tell you that?" it snapped. "How do I know you're not after our spirit, Faron?"
"Listen to me, that spirit is gonna be long gone if you don't tell me where the spring is!" Mitsuhiro began to raise his voice. He gritted his teeth, trying not to be tempted to kill the little tree. "I can bring Faron back!"
"And why should I trust you?" Why did this tree have to be so arrogant?
Mitsuhiro sighed, and decided to tell the truth. "Alright, fine, I'm a companion of Link's. The Kokiri boy that used to live here, remember?"
The Deku Tree gasped, and smiled. "Well that changes everything! The spring is in a small meadow near Link's house! The gateway to this meadow is behind a wooden door that's on the boulder behind the house! The door is new, so that's why Link's never heard about it before."
Why in the world was everything always connected to Link?
Chapter 25 (continued)
I had been walking for fifteen minutes, and I still hadn't found the monster. In fact, I hadn't seen any monster since I walked into the twilight, which worried me deeply. And since I was starting to end up using the same paths in the Lost Woods over again, it was only a matter of time before I screwed up and was sent back to the beginning of the woods. I would even pay attention to the sky in case any of those weird shadow portals had appeared in the sky, but every time I looked, there was nothing, just black clouds covering over the small amount of light that was getting through.
I picked at the bandages wrapped around my left hand. This twilight was really starting to get to me, and I couldn't stand the feeling of bandages around the Triforce. I wondered if Mitsuhiro had found the spring yet. Then I remembered that I still had my C.T. Crystal, so I decided to contact him, much to my dismay.
When the screen appeared over the crystal, I saw an angry looking Mitsuhiro.
"What do you want?" he asked in an annoyed tone.
"Where did you find the monster back in Kakariko?" I asked him.
"Huh? Well let's see... um, I'm pretty sure it attacked me first!" I could tell he was being sarcastic with me.
"No need for jokes," I muttered. "Is there anything I should be looking for? I haven't seen any trace of monsters since I entered the twilight."
"Yeah, neither have I. But I did manage to get the information of where the spring is from that Deku Tree. By the way, where's your house?"
"What are you planning to do, rob me?"
"No, you have nothing worth taking. The spring is in a cave near your house, which is covered with a door."
"Huh, that's strange. I don't remember that being there."
Mitsuhiro rolled his eyes. "It seems the Deku Tree and the Kokiri children didn't care if they meddled with your property. Apparently the door is new. So where's your house?"
"It's a tree house, on the east side of the village. There are drawings on the tree trunk." I looked at him seriously. "And stay out of my house. I don't want to return there with half my stuff gone."
"No promises," he snickered, and before I could get another word in, he turned off his crystal. I guess I just had to... trust him.
A Short Interlude
Mitsuhiro approached the small tree house mounted up on a tall pine tree. He looked at the trunk to make sure it was the right place. Funny chalk drawings were on the bark, just like Link had said. The drawings made him laugh: a doodle which he guessed was Link fighting a giant dinosaur-looking monster. He wondered if Link's drawing skills had gotten any better, now that he was thirteen. Probably not. That kid spent so much time training, that he probably wouldn't have any chance to just sit down and draw, almost like Uzuki did. Of course, unlike Uzuki, he didn't need to have drawing skills to fight.
Mitsuhiro walked around the perimeter of the small area, and saw a tall wooden door mounted into the boulder. It looked easy to open. As he approached the door, he saw a sign sticking from the ground.
Do not enter
-Mido
Wasn't Mido the guy that Link hated? There must have been a reason he put up that sign, probably to keep people away. And the only reason to keep people away from a spirit's spring is monsters. Shadow beasts to be more accurate. Or maybe, considering the door was right behind the house, it was to keep Link away. Maybe Mido was actually worried about Link. But there was no chance Mistuhiro would ever worry about the little brat.
The little brat who, sadly to say, was stronger than he ever would be.
Mitsuhiro kicked the side of the tree trunk in anger. Why was Link stronger than him? Why was Link so much better than him? And teaching Link his own abilities was just making the kid even stronger! And he was sick of Uzuki, Shuto, and Yashiro telling him to get along with the little brat!
"Dammit!" Mitsuhiro screamed to himself. "Why do I have to put up with him!" He sighed, calming himself down, and turned towards the door. He pushed it open, and was relieved when he saw the spring and knew that the Deku Tree wasn't lying just to get rid of him.
He stepped inside, but felt stupid the moment his foot was caught in a rope and he was pulled up, hanging upside-down from the ceiling by his ankle. He should have known the dang Kokiri kids would think of something to keep intruders out.
"Ugh, stupid kids...," he growled to himself as he took out a kunai from his holster around his waist. He carefully attempted to lift himself up, and began cutting through the rope that was tied around his ankle. When the kunai finally broke the rope, he twisted his body as he fell, landing on his feet. He put the kunai back into his holster. He kicked the rest of the rope off his leg, and then continued on towards the spirit. That trick the Kokiri children pulled on him... at least now he knew where Link got his stupidity from.
Chapter 25 (continued)
An hour of walking through the Lost Woods, and I never found the monster. Maybe this was all just a waste of my time, and the monster was hiding somewhere else... but where? Mitsuhiro was in the village, and he hadn't told me he had seen it, so it couldn't have been there. Maybe it was inside the Great Deku Tree? That could be possibility. As long as the monster didn't resemble anything of Queen Gohma. I did not want to fight it for a third time.
After walking for another five minutes to make sure the monster wasn't here, I left the woods, and made my way to the Great Deku Tree's home. When I saw the tree, it looked even gloomier than death with the color of the twilight added. The new Deku Tree was planted in front of it, a childish smile on its face. It didn't look much bigger than the last time I had seen it, but then again, the Deku Tree I knew so well was probably, I don't know, seven hundred when it died? Which meant little Deku Tree had a long way to go. It was only three.
"Link!" the little Deku Tree yelled when it saw me. "I can't believe it's you!" I had a feeling that the tree would want to hug me, if only it wasn't glued to the ground. "How are you? Where did you go? Oh my, you look so much older now!"
If I had worn my robe, he probably wouldn't have recognized me.
"It's good to see you too, Deku Tree," I laughed.
"Even your voice has changed!"
What was he, my mother?
"Uh, thanks?" I laughed again. "Hey Deku Tree, I need to ask you a favor."
"Oh, someone was here asking me a favor about an hour ago. Said he was looking for the entrance to the spring. I told him because he was claiming he was your companion. Now I can actually trust him!"
That must have been Mitsuhiro. "Anyways, I was wondering if you've seen any monsters around."
He frowned, which was probably the weirdest thing I had ever seen him do. "The forest has changed recently, Link. About two days ago, strange men appeared in the forest. They wore black robes, and hoods that went over their faces. They demanded that I tell them where the spirit was, but I refused. Then they asked me where you were, but again, I refused, mostly because I didn't know where you were, but if I did, I still wouldn't have told them, just to let you know."
"Thanks," I muttered. "But you could have told them. I could have handled them. I've gotten stronger, and I have a few friends to back me up. And anyways, if you had told them, maybe this forest wouldn't have been covered in twilight."
"Is that what this is? Hmm, I wonder if the previous Deku Tree had any problems with this."
"I don't think so," I laughed. "So, besides the men in the black robes, have you seen any other monsters since this twilight began?"
"Well, there were a lot at first, but then they all disappeared for some reason. Every night though, or at least I'm guessing at night, you can't really tell with this twilight, a shriek can be heard. It must scare the death out of the Kokiri children. But I haven't seen the source of the shriek. Mido has even done the job of putting up warning signs around the village where he thinks there will be a monster. In fact, he did this a little while before the twilight began. There's a sign near the Lost Woods, a sign underneath the suspension bridge that leads here, a sign in that cave where you found your sword, and a sign behind your house, where the spring is."
Great, so now I had to put up with Mido's stupid signs. "How is Mido and Saria anyways?" I asked. I was more concerned about Saria than Mido though.
"They both miss you. Especially Mido."
Wow, that's a first, I thought.
The tree smiled again. "So be sure to say hello to him once you get rid of this twilight!"
"Uh, I'll see what I can do," I muttered back, and waved goodbye to the tree. "See you later, Deku Tree."
"That's Great Deku Tree to you!" the tree laughed as I left. Yep, he was definitely still a kid. But then again, I was still a kid too. A kid that couldn't live his life the way he wanted to.
But then again... life was more interesting that way.