Link led Epona through along the road to the Southern Swamp. Saria rode the faithful steed placidly, smiling down at Link occasionally, keeping her eyes ahead the rest of the time.
Skull Kid walked next to Link, and Tatl, Tael, Navi, as well as Saria's pinkish fairy Mado, all sat on Epona with Saria, sometimes flying off on their own. Everyone had split up. Saria, Link and Skull Kid were going to the Woodfall Temple. Darunia was making his way alone to the Mountain Village. Nabooru and Ruto were going to the Great Bay Coast. And Impa was going to the Ikana Valley alone. Link, Skull Kid, and the Happy Mask Man would meet up with all of them separately as they completed each leg of their journey. They were to rendezvous back in Clock Town when it was over—if it was ever over.
Link blinked. He was supposed to be defending Saria and Epona from the keese that frequented this road, not lost in retrospect. He fired several arrows from his bow into the trees purposely. Several keese fell to the ground dead. They vanished in a flash of smoldering flames. Things of evil were never allowed to permeate the land in death.
Link sneered and fired several more arrows. After several minutes they left the road and reached the Southern Swamp. It was basically a too-shallow lake that was dotted with giant lily pads.
Saria dismounted Epona and she joined Link and Skull kid in hopping from one lily pad to the next. They ignored the water that sunk into their boots as hopped, trying to keep smiles on their faces. They hopped through a tunnel of the rock that towered over the swamp. Once they were through the tunnel it was only a few lily pads to an island that sported a cave that went deep below the swamp that served as a man's home.
From the island they jumped to another, larger island that held up a wall to the Deku Fortress. They entered the fortress via a small doorway in the wooden wall. Link chuckled as he gazed at the wall. The fortress was not very big. But then again, neither were its inhabitants.
A moat circled inside of the wall and a few floating logs that served as the drawbridge separated the narrow strip of dry land that supported the outer wall from the island that held the fortress itself above the water.
The three crossed the "drawbridge," their fairies hovering overhead. On the other side, where a gate would have been on most fortresses, two Deku stood blocking the way into the fortress, spears at the ready.
Link studied the two guards curiously. They were short and appeared very cute. It was the trumpet-shaped mouths that extended from their faces that gave them their cuteness. But cuteness did not mean harmless, as Link knew all too well. These guards could shoot projectiles from those trumpet mouths of theirs, and they were well trained to use their spears. True, Link could defeat both of them in combat, but it would not come to that.
"You may not enter!" one guard shouted.
"No! The Deku King does not any but Deku to enter the Royal Palace," the other agreed.
Saria composed herself. She knew how to handle Deku. "You will deny me entrance?"
"Yes!" the first guard cried, fingering his spear.
Saria spread her arms. "I am Kokiri! You dare deny me entrance! You left the Lost Woods long ago to create your own home, but once you served the Deku Tree faithfully! I am a Child of the Deku Tree, a Kokiri, and you will grant me entrance!" With this Saria brought her hands together and cupped them as if to scoop water up with them. Within her hands an orange sphere of light grew from nothing and stopped growing once it was the size of a fist. Abruptly it vanished in a thousand sparks of light.
The Deku cowered until the second said meekly, "I will speak to the Deku King of your entrance."
"Thank you," Saria said, the anger gone from her voice and a smile on her face.
The Deku ran off, despite her sudden calmness. In a few minutes he returned, even more shaken, if that were possible. "Come with me please, Lady Kokiri."
"Saria."
The Deku nodded. "Lady Saria, your friends must remain here, except for your fairy."
"They come with me," Saria replied.
"Very well," the Deku answered meekly.
The Deku guard led them between two high walls that separated the Inner Garden. On the far side they reached another wall that sported a giant doorway. The doorway was open, but it was guarded by four more Deku. Their escort led them through the doorway and into a large room with a bonfire at the center. It was littered with important-looking Deku and at the far side of the room stood a Deku that was as big as the average Goron.
The large Deku, the King of the Deku, stared at Saria. "So you are a Kokiri. Why, after all of this time, have you come to punish us? We submit ourselves to you entirely, of course but..."
Saria put her hands on her hips. "My companions and I require passage to Woodfall and it's temple. You will grant us entrance."
The Deku King blinked. "Only two of us knows the way to Woodfall. One is my daughter. She is there already. The other is the one who came to us when he left." The Deku Ruler pointed to Link. "That one is dead."
Link gasped, though Saria didn't know why. "D-dead?" he asked.
The Deku King looked at Link. "Yes, he passed away a year after you left Termina. His last words were, 'Hero of Time, why have you abandoned me?'"
Link gasped again and fell to the ground on one knee. Saria knelt next to him. She looked at his face and realized that he had tears streaming down his face. "Link, what is it?" she asked.
"I died," he replied. Then he stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Your Majesty, I knew this Deku of whom you speak of. His name was also Link. He was a... a good friend. Now, if you will give us three of your best gliders we will be able to go to Woodfall."
The Deku King looked at Link. "How do I know that I can trust you?"
Saria stepped forward and announced, "I am Kokiri. If you don't trust me then you can trust no one."
The Deku King nodded. "My best guards will accompany you. They will escort you to Woodfall!"
************
Link's teeth chattered as he held onto the Deku's legs. It was like the underworld keeping his grip, and he knew that if he lost his grip that he would probably die. After what seemed like an eternity they set down on a ledge in the stone that stood at the center of the Southern Swamp. The ledge had a hole that went into the rock, which was really not a rock at all but a natural barrier to keep trespassers out of the Woodfall. Saria, Skull Kid, and he all ran through the tunnel and into Woodfall. Now their true journey began.