The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.

The Voice
24 - Not Yet

The clearing fell silent as the three of them stared each other down. Even the perpetually cheerful and noisy Koroks were quiet, watching the proceedings with rapt attention. Link's eyes met with the giant tree's, which were still filled with clear dislike and disapproval, as if Link's very existence was an affront to the world. A creeping voice in the back of his head told him he probably deserved it, which he did his best to ignore, but that was difficult with such a gaze being directed at him.

"Psst, Link," Sheik whispered (or tried to, at least; his voice still came out painfully loud, "please tell me you remember meeting and-or insulting a great, bloody tree that can speak."

Link shook his head. If he had, it must have been a century earlier...and even then he was pretty sure a being like the giant tree towering over him would have seared itself to his mind's eye, never to be forgotten. "S-Sorry," he said quietly.

"Shit," Sheik muttered.

"Well?" the tree thundered, his booming voice causing tremors throughout the entire clearing. The stone beneath Link's feet vibrated with the force of it. The sword, however, remained completely steady; as solid as the rock it was embedded in. "Are you going to say something? Speak up, boy!"

Contempt. The tree's voice was laced with it, and in such an amount Link found it difficult to stop himself from nodding in agreement, to deny that he was worthy of it. What could he possibly have done to inspire such hatred? Was this one of Ganon's creatures? Surely not; the sword would have long since been destroyed, in that case...

"H-Hello?" Link tried, feeling his face flushing the moment he said it. The stutter was one thing, but the way his voice shook, and the lacklustre force (or complete lack thereof) was anything but impressive. Embarrassing, really. "Wh-Who are y-you?"

The huge eyes narrowed, the equally huge mouth moving with the sound of a thousand tree trunks breaking as it clearly struggled to find the words to Link's (undoubtedly stupid) question.

"Who am I?" the tree asked. "Who am I?!" It sounded unbelievably miffed and insulted at not being recognised. Link wondered if that was a regular occurrence. "I, boy, am the Great Deku Tree! The Guardian of the Master Sword, and Protector of the Korok!" It then grumbled under its breath. "Kids these days..."

Link nodded, pretending to understand and realise what an obviously great, important, and well-known being he was communing with. "I s-see," he said. "M-My apologies. O-Of c-course you are th-the G-Great—"

The tree rolled its eyes. "Spare me the flattery, boy," it interrupted. "You clearly have no idea who or what I am. Not that it comes as a surprise; it is just another confirmation of your failure. I saw it in you back then, and it has only become clearer since then."

Link's breath caught in his throat. Whatever he had done to insult this tree in the past must have been bad. "I-I d-d-don't u-underst—"he tried, the words refusing to come.

"I knew she made a mistake when she chose you," the Deku Tree continued mercilessly. "Saw it as plain as day, but she would not budge on her decision. And all of Hyrule ended up paying for her mistake when you failed at your task."

Link only caught two thirds of his words, the rest drowned out by the sound of his heart beating like a drum in his chest and his breathing, which was growing faster and faster, his vision quickly tunnelling; his legs felt like chuchu-jelly, wobbling and threatening to drop him any moment.

He thought his own voice in his head was bad enough, but this Great Deku Tree...its words were so heavy, and each one was like a weight around his neck, pulling him further and further down.

Who was he kidding? Of course he was a failure. Zelda—she—had made a mistake when entrusting him with the fate of Hyrule.

He'd fucked up so badly the first time around, why would it go better the second time? The Tree saw the disaster coming a mile away.

Of course it wouldn't want him anywhere near the sword and would probably send him away, or just kill him right then and there for the treason he'd committed against Hyrule and the world and—

"—the fuck up, you stupid goddamn twig!" Sheik's shrieking voice penetrating the wall of noise that was blocking his ears. "Or I'll burn your goddamn forest down and laugh while doing it! Link! Link! Listen to me! He's wrong! You're not a failure! Link! Breathe with me, okay? Just breathe!"

The projection wasn't there. The slate was still on his belt, the lens facing the wrong way. But Sheik's greatest weapon in this wasn't his appearance, but his voice. So loud, so piercing.

"Breathe with me, you stupid Hylian!" Sheik repeated. "In! Out! In! Out! In!"

He wouldn't have been so embarrassed, had it only been the two of them. He'd gotten used to Sheik seeing him at his weakest, his most pathetic, but knowing the Deku Tree and the small army of Koroks were watching...it made it difficult to come back. Made it take so much longer to finally calm down, for his vision to grow into something more than just a narrow little dot in the distance.

Even when it did, he kept it firmly on the stone beneath him, his fingers digging into the cracks and irregularities, trying to find something to anchor him there. His legs had failed him long ago, a persistent ache in his knee telling him he'd gone down hard.

Sheik didn't say anything other than the regular rhythms of ins and outs, more occupied with keeping the oxygen flow going than anything else.

"...and out," Sheik said, when the sound of the forest around them began to return. The Koroks were chattering amongst themselves nervously, poking and prodding each other. "That's good, Link...very good...are you feeling better?"

Link nodded. He really needed to do something about these attacks. They couldn't keep coming like this and knock him down every time.

Above him, the Deku Tree scoffed. "So much for our last hope—"

"Did I say you could talk, sprig?!" Sheik exclaimed. "Ever hear the saying, if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all? I suggest you apply it to your fucking mouth!"

Link wanted to ask Sheik if he had ever considered applying it to himself, but he'd rather not draw the ire of both of them at the same time. The Tree was bad enough...

"Who are you, his nursemaid?" the Deku Tree asked derisively. "Need I remind you that you are in my realm, and only at my pleasure? I suggest you change your tone—"

"How about you make like a tree and leave?" Sheik spat back, and Link tried not to groan at the pun. Even when pissed off Sheik managed to push every one of his buttons. "Or are you going to bark some more? You are talking to the Hero of Hyrule, and the rightful wielder of the Master Sword! I suggest you show him some respect!"

"Respect?!" the Deku Tree shouted. "What has the boy done that is worthy of it? Of the Sword? A hundred years ago he doomed us all with his failure, and you have the audacity to demand my respect?" The tree scoffed again. "I was not impressed with you a century ago, boy, and your current iteration is even worse! You aren't even worthy of looking upon her, much less wield her!"

"Oh-hoh, don't make me laugh!" Sheik said, giving a scoff of his own. "Link was hurt back then, yes, but that was only a warm-up. He's here to reclaim his Sword, and will use it to defeat Ganon! That's more than you will ever do with your entire existence, you overgrown sapling! You can keep cowering in your forest all you like, but we have work to do! Link, get up!"

"You sound familiar,"the Tree murmured (which was still deafeningly loud) as Link struggled to get to his feet, spurred by Sheik's passionate (if irate) defence. He kept his eyes trained on the Master Sword now, wondering why the Tree referred to it as a she. He'd been sure it had been referring to Zelda, but she had never really chosen Link for anything other than bestowing the title of Champion on him, had she? As far as he understood, the Sword had been doing the choosing...and who was the Tree to judge that?

...then again, what did that exactly mean, it chose him? He couldn't remember how he'd come to wield it in the first place. Had there been some sort of ceremony? Had he touched the sword, and not been horribly killed or incinerated, and therefore he was worthy?

"I don't give a fuck what I sound like," Sheik growled. "At least I'm not the literal ugly tree everyone keeps falling out of!"

"Ugly?! How dare you—"

Link ignored the argument—he wasn't really part of it. He was glad Sheik was doing most of the talking (insulting), if only because he had more important things to do. He looked at the blade in the pedestal, trying to discern any sort of...meaning in its shiny lustre, its golden details, its fearsome wings...

Did you?

Did you make a mistake when you chose me?

There was no change. No sudden change in its reflection of his face, no sudden dulling in the gold. Not even a twitch of its wings. Link wasn't sure what he expected.

Look at me, he thought. I'm expecting a sword to talk back.

Maybe the Tree had a point...

...and wouldn't that be a sad state of affairs?

No. He shook his head to dispel that thought immediately. It didn't help, but he wasn't going to accept it. He had no intention of letting this...this tree have the right of it! No, Link was the Hero of Hyrule, and he was damn well going to prove it. He'd take the Sword and shove it so far up—

"Stop!"

The Deku Tree's booming voice made him halt, his fingers inches from the Sword's handle. He glanced up at the massive face, whose eyes were now completely focused on him.

"Wh-Why?" Link asked, glaring back. "It's m-mine—"

"Hah!" the Tree laughed. "Such a statement only proves how little of a Hero you truly are, boy! The Master Sword doesn't belong to you! She belongs only to herself!"

"And what the fuck does that mean, then?" Sheik asked harshly. "Last I checked, inanimate objects don't have wills, much less opinions!"

Link hesitated. "W-We are t-talking t-to a t-tree," he said quietly.

"And I am speaking to a Sheikah slate," the Tree added, still amused. Link wasn't sure if he liked it agreeing with him. "And a very rude one, at that. Very familiar."

"Link, stop agreeing with the dumb tree," Sheik ordered. "And you, tree, can keep your mouth shut. We are taking the Sword and leaving. Hero or not, we need it!"

Link's hand was still outreached, but not touching the blade. The Tree's eyes were still on him, and he found it difficult to close the final inch or so while he was being studied with such narrowed eyes.

"Hmph, be my guest, then," the Tree said, suddenly sounding disinterested with the entire affair.

Link narrowed his own eyes in turn, suddenly suspicious. He moved his hand a little closer, waiting for the next inevitable outburst. Surely the Tree wasn't about to just let him take the Sword after making such a fuss about it?

"I hope you have your affairs in order," it added just as his index finger was about to make contact.

Link sighed, arm dropping along with his neck, so he stared at the platform.

"All right, I'll bite," Sheik said suspiciously. "Why would he need to have that?"

"The Sword only lets herself be wielded by those she deems worthy," the Deku Tree said slowly, and in a tone that suggested he considered Sheik to be...well, a child, really. "And she does not appreciate being touched by those who aren't. I will not stop you from taking her...because she certainly will. So go ahead, boy, try and take her. If you think are you strong enough."

Sheik snorted. "Easy-peasy. Link's already tamed two Divine Beasts and defeated Ganon's monsters without it. This is just a formality."

"Oh, he has defeated two Blights, has he? Well-well, colour me impressed."

The Tree's voice was anything but genuine, and Link wondered what his luck was, to have run into both Sheik and the Tree, whose only main difference, at least in behaviour, was being on opposite sides when it came to Link's worthiness. It was...depressing, in a way.

"I'd like to see you do better," Sheik sniffed. "But I guess that's a bit hard on account of you being, you know, a useless plant!"

"I have kept Ganon from finding the Sword for a century—"

"Oh, oh, so sitting here and staring at a sword for a hundred years counts as doing something now, does it?! Link, did you hear that?! From now on, I'll just sit back and watch as you take on Ganon! That counts as helping, apparently!"

"Insolent whelp! Do you truly believe that the Blights, who only have a fraction of Ganon's power, are indicators of the boy's strength? They are but seeds to Ganon's mighty trunk! Were he to face Ganon as he is now, he will perish! And with him, all hope! You, boy, are not yet worthy to bear the Sword. Come back later, when you truly appreciate your role!"

"Be glad we don't torch this whole place as we leave," Sheik said, not impressed at all. "Link, grab the sword. The sooner we're out of here, the better."

The words the Deku Tree had spoken rang true—he was more than aware that the Blights, the creatures that had taken the Beasts, were not representative of Ganon's true strength, but at the same time he knew it didn't mean nothing that he'd defeated them. He was growing stronger. And the Sword would make him even stronger. He reached out again, giving the Tree an apologetic look.

"I'm s-sorry," he said, "b-but I n-need it!"

The Deku Tree sighed, its eyes closing. "Then be it on your head, boy, should you fail to measure up."

"He won't," Sheik said confidently.

I won't, Link thought. I am the Hero.

His fingers wrapped themselves tentatively around the hilt, fitting perfectly into the grooves, giving him a perfect grip. His other hand joined the first, gripping the Sword firmly. As he did so, he felt a strange tingling in his fingers, which soon began travelling up his arms. It felt...gentle. Like it was prodding and poking. A shiver ran down his spine.

Assessing. It was assessing him.

Maybe the Tree had a point after all.

"What are you waiting for?" Sheik asked. "Pull it out."

I wielded you once, Link thought as the tingling reached his throat, his chin, his face...his head. I will wield you again.

And then he pulled. It yielded...for an inch. Then it struck back. The world around him disappeared, darkening until there was only him and the Sword, refusing to budge from its stony sheath. Every nerve in his body was lit on fire as the poking turned into burning, travelling through every muscle, every bone, every vein, every cell of his body.

Prove it

The words more or less appeared in his mind, rather than being spoken.

Prove you are worthy

The burning grew worse and worse, challenging him.

Prove you are the one I chose

He tried to pull harder, putting every fibre of his being into it. The internal fire was draining him, lethargy spreading just as quickly as the burning sensation had.

Prove you are a Hero

But he couldn't. His fingers were gripping strongly, but his arms refused to budge. His body refused to move. He couldn't pull any harder.

Or die trying

He gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw. He wouldn't fail. He'd prove it. But his vision was already swimming, his legs giving out under his weight, refusing to support him any longer. His fingers slackened and slipped, unable to maintain their grip. The world grew brighter around him, and he was back in the clearing...and then it darkened rapidly.

"Link! Link!" Sheik's voice was panicked, desperate.

"A pity," the Tree's booming voice spoke, but it sounded so far away...and only getting farther. "You should have known your limits, boy..."

Link's world shrank then, until he was all that existed in it, his muscles burning. Then his body began to break down, burned to cinders, then reduced to ash. All he saw as he returned to the nothing from which he came, was the Sword.

Not yet, it spoke. Not yet

Massively OOC with the Tree, I know, but I wanted to give it a bit of a mean streak. Hopefully it wasn't too bad!