Welcome to the second part of the Child of Time! It's me, your host pi2, hoping you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer: Blah blah blah.
Chapter 2
Skull Kid and Tael looked around. They were in the Chamber of Sages, standing in the middle of the Triforce platform. All of the platforms for the Sages were empty, except for the Light platform, which Rauru was standing on. Rauru looked like he had been expecting them. "Ah, so at last you have arrived," he said. "The Goddess of Time informed me of your quest. I am here to start your journey. I know of the first guardian, Aeolus, Dragon of Light. I saw my father create him from particles of light after he had finished building this temple. He is the only dragon who was not killed by the poachers, but the other guardians and all the other normal dragons of ancient Hyrule were wiped out. Aeolus died out of grief and loneliness. He told me to recreate him during the solar equinox when all the other dragons were reborn." He paused. "You're probably wondering how I can help you."
"Yeah, we were wondering that." Said Tael.
"Well, I can give you information on the other temples and dragons, not to mention send you back to Hymina each time you visit. But first, let me give you something."
He raised his arms. High in the ceiling, there was a flash of light. A small object fell from the ceiling, landing in Skull Kid's hands. It was a yellow medallion, with a Triforce image on the back and a symbol of three inward-pointing triangles with a dot between each triangle on the front. "Cool! What is it?" asked Skull Kid.
"That is a Light Medallion. It has no real power, but it might come in handy. As long as you're here, I might give you this as well." Rauru tossed Skull Kid another medallion, this one purple. The symbol on the front was a triangle surrounded by three dots. "This is a Shadow Medallion. Impa is supposed to give it to you, but she's a little busy in Kakariko Village. She's the only Sage aside from myself who is not imprisoned. You now only need to collect eight more medallions and the first part of the quest will be finished. Now, are you ready to hear about where you're going?" Skull Kid nodded. "The Kokiri built the Forest Temple under the direction of Saria's ancestor, Saria." Skull Kid couldn't help chuckling. "Do you know how Kokiri are born?"
"No, not really." admitted Skull Kid.
"The Kokiri are immortal, but in the rare occasion that one dies, his/her fairy dies as well, but are reborn from the Deku Tree with no memories. They are completely new people. This has happened to Saria twice. It is only in her third incarnation that she has become Forest Sage once again."
"Sorry for laughing." Said Skull Kid.
"It's alright. Now, as for the guardian, Saria created the dragon Alexandra from leaves and bark. Those horrible poachers killed her six hundred years ago, like the rest of the green dragons of the forest." He cleared his throat. "As for Woodfall, it was built by the Deku Scrubs a thousand years ago as well to honor their god, the Deku Tree. I can see your obvious confusion on this. Let me explain. The Deku Tree is one of the four gods that created Termina. He had a hand in creating the forests of Hyrule as well, and decided to stay with his creation. To do so, he had to give up most of his godly powers. He was fine with that. The same thing happened with Jabu-Jabu, who also helped create Termina."
"Ah, I understand." Said Skull Kid.
"Good. Now, you shall be sent to the forest, where Link's first quest began."
"Wait! Can't we stop off at Mesmoria and tell mom what's going on?" asked Tael.
"No, there isn't enough time. You have only five weeks. Besides, Queen Spryte has already been informed of the situation and given approval for you to go on this quest. Now, are you ready to go forth and save the world, probably even the entire universe?"
"I guess so." Said Skull Kid.
"Then prepare for transport." The old man raised his arms. There was a flash. Skull Kid and Tael found themselves standing in a tree house. It was Link's tree house. They could tell this because he had described it to them once. There was a back window with a couch/bed under it, shelves of stuff, and a little cushion for Navi to sleep on.
"Wow, we're in Link's tree house!" said Skull Kid. He peeked out the back window and was surprised to see the Deku throne room. But instead of Deku Scrubs, the room was filled with Stalfos. On the throne was a very big Stalfos with a large sword and shield. The jail cell held a familiar-looking Deku Scrub, who was tied to a post. He got down so the big Stalfos wouldn't notice him. "Tael," he whispered. "What's that big Stalfos sitting on the throne?"
Tael took a look. "That's the Master Stalfos. It's a really powerful Stalfos. Its shield can deflect any person's physical attacks. His sword is magical and flies towards its target when thrown, homing in on it. He must be second-in-command to whatever monster is in the temple."
"Makes sense to me." He whispered.
"Hey, I think something's happening." Whispered Tael. Skull Kid quietly walked over to the window and peeked over the sill.
A Stalfos approached the Master Stalfos. He kneeled, then got up. "Master Stalfos, the Wolfos wish to know if you have finished passing judgement on the worthless scrub who killed one of their females."
The Master Stalfos scowled. "Can't you see I'm trying to think of something?"
"Maybe we could just chop him into kindling like we do with all the rebel scrubs." suggested one of the Stalfos.
The Master shook his head. "No, no, it must be something worse to appease the Wolfos. I've got it! We won't kill him at all!"
"Then what will we do with him, master?"
The Master grinned. "We'll make him one of us! We'll turn him into a Mad Scrub!" He turned to the messenger. "Tell the Wolfos to prepare a big pot of poison water for dunking. Before the week is out, our little friend will be a lowly Mad Scrub!" the Master Stalfos laughed in a low, almost grunting cackle. None of the other Stalfos joined in.
Skull Kid looked over to the poor Scrub in the cell. "Tael, I think I know who that scrub is." He whispered.
"You do?"
"Yes. Remember that scrub I...I mean, Majora turned into a tree while I was possessed? I think that's him."
"But you turned him into a tree."
"Don't you remember? Link said he freed the poor guy from the tree curse using the Deku Mask. Even after, it still retained its powers of transformation. I wonder if it's still around. It might help us blend in."
"Why don't we look?" asked Tael. They split up and searched the tree house, which was a little bigger than one would have expected. It turned out that Link had to carve some extra rooms into the trunk of the tree to make room for his grown-up self. They found a ladder that led down to these rooms. Aside from the bathroom and bedroom on the first floor, Link also had a kitchen/dining room and a storeroom. The storeroom was where they found what they were looking for. Unfortunately, the Stalfos seemed to have taken most of the ammo for themselves. There were almost no Deku Sticks or nuts. The seed bags were gone, and there were no arrows either. They found a few of Link's old weapons. His Deku Shield and child-sized Mirror Shield were still there. The slingshot and bow were there, but there was no ammo. The Hero's Bow was gone. So were the bombs, the Bombchu, in fact almost all his old weapons. All that was left was the child-sized hookshot, a small pack, six empty bottles,
and twenty-seven masks. Twenty of those masks were the Happy Masks Link had collected in Termina. Three of them were the transformation masks. The last four were the now demon-free masks of Odolwa, Goht, Gyorg, and Twinmold. "We could use some of this!" said Tael. He flew over to the small pack. "This will hold all of our stuff."
"Tael, what are you talking about? That pack is barely large enough to hold five of those masks!"
Tael chuckled. "This is no ordinary pack. I suppose you've never heard of the special Kokiri backpack?"
"No, I haven't. What is it?"
"It's a magical pack. It can hold an unbelievable amount of items, no matter what the size. You can take all of this stuff and shove it in the pack. It will weigh nothing as well." Skull Kid had to see this for himself. He put the hookshot in the pack. They fit neatly. Then he put in all six bottles. They fit as well. Finally, he put each mask in one by one and saw that they all fit!
"Well, what do you know? You were right, Tael!"
"Of course I was. I'm your guardian fairy now. I know this kind of stuff."
"I guess putting in one more item won't hurt." He said. He pulled Majora's Mask out of his pack and put it in the pack. As an afterthought, he took out the rest of his dust vials and put them in as well, even the empty ones. He left his now-empty pack on the ground and put the new pack on his back. He picked up the Mirror Shield and strapped it on as well. "So Tael, what's our next step?"
"We could leave this tree house." Said Tael.
"Yeah, but those Stalfos will see us, unless...he rummaged through his pack and put on the Stone Mask. "This should do the trick." He said.
"Be careful, Skull Kid." Said Tael. "The mask's powers of invisibility will only work on certain enemies. I can tell which ones are or are not affected, and I know that Master Stalfos will not be affected."
"We'll just stay out of his sight then." Said Skull Kid. "The Stalfos won't see us, right?"
"Right. Don't attack them, though. We need to know the situation here." Skull Kid nodded and headed for the ladder. They climbed up to the top floor, went through the front door, and climbed down the ladder. The mask worked like a charm, which, in a way, it was. They easily passed by the Stalfos and walked outside the throne room, finding themselves in the passage leading to the outside. Since the corridor had no ceiling, the sky was visible. It was nighttime. Unfortunately, Wolfos guarded the exit. "Uh oh." Said Tael.
"What? They're just a bunch of stupid Wolfos. We'll sneak by them."
"No, Skull Kid! They can smell us! The mask's powers of invisibility won't shield your scent!"
"Hmm. That is a problem. Let me think a minute." Skull Kid thought, then got an idea. "Tael, how good is their sense of smell?"
"Very good. In fact, I'm surprised they can't smell us right now."
"Why can't they? Hey wait, do you smell something?"
"What do you...oh wait, I do smell something." They sniffed the air. It wasn't a good smell. Tael concluded that the smell was masking their scent. "However, they will still be able to smell us if we walk right by."
Skull Kid nodded, expecting this. "Don't worry. I have a plan."
"Great! What do we do?"
"Actually Tael, it's more like what you do."
A few minutes later, Tael flew up to the Wolfos. "Heyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyhey! Look at me! I'm a fairy!"
One of the Wolfos growled. "Hey Bill, it's a fairy!"
"I see it. Let's get it and put it in a cage like the others! Come on, Joe!" Tael flew down the passageway, the Wolfos giving chase. Tael led them into one of the palace gardens while Skull Kid ran down the corridor and outside. Once he got far enough away from the front gate, he saw what had been causing the smell. He gaped underneath his mask.
Tael was leading the Wolfos on a merry chase through the gardens. "Come on! Can't you two big strong Wolfos catch little old me?" Finally, he figured Skull Kid had gotten through so flew out of the Wolfos' reach, over the palace walls.
"Hey! Come back here!" yelled Joe.
"Should we tell the Master Stalfos?" asked Bill.
"And get busted for not being able to catch a single fairy? Nah, let's get back to our post."
Tael chuckled as he flew over the walls. He stopped when he saw what was on the other side. He spun around to see everything, going higher. It wasn't the transformed village itself that surprised him so much, it was what had been done to the village. The reason there had been a smell masking their scent was that the water had been poisoned. It was a bright purple in color, just like it had been in the days of the falling moon. In the not-too-far-away distance, he could see Woodfall with rings of smoke around its peak and poison water oozing down the sides. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst was the village itself. As he flew lower to get a closer look, he could see monsters all over the place. He could see Kokiri and Scrubs, but they were all battered and worn. There were brightly-glowing lamps hanging over the doorways of all the buildings, but on closer inspection they were really small glass vials with a guardian fairy crammed in each one, forced to give off light.
Dragonflies flew over the village on orderly patrols. Hiploops patrolled some of the bridges. There were Wolfos and Stalfos scattered all over the village, herding the Scrubs and Kokiri to or from the meadow of the Deku Tree. The poor prisoners were obviously slaves. Tael couldn't bear to imagine how horrible it must be for them if they looked that haggard after only one week under Majora's rule. High in the air, the grinning moon could be seen. Majora had obviously used powerful magic to defy the laws of inertia and gravity to keep it suspended in the same spot right over the land, without rotating or breaking orbit. It was now circling the planet at the same speed that the world rotated, keeping it in the same spot for observers on the ground. Tael saw Skull Kid standing on the bridge leading from the palace, just taking everything in. Tael quickly flew over to him. "Skull kid, are you all right?"
Skull Kid didn't respond for a moment. Then, he turned to Tael. "I'm fine, Tael. But they aren't. This is incentive for killing that foul demon. I can't let him get away with doing something like this."
"So why don't we head straight for the temple?"
"Because the Lost Woods have probably merged with the Woods of Mystery. That means the paths will be completely different. We need to get information on how to get through the woods and to do that we'll need to blend in."
"We could use the Captain's Hat." Suggested Tael.
Skull Kid shook his head. "No, that won't work. It only tricks Stalchildren. It won't fool those monsters for a second. We need a more devious disguise to blend in." He took off the Stone Mask and placed it in his pack. He then pulled the Deku Mask from his pack.
Tael immediately saw what he was going to do. "Skull Kid, don't! If you become a Deku Scrub, they'll put you to work with the others! And they'll stuff me in a jar!"
Skull Kid was solemn. "Tael, we have to do this. It's the only way to get our information. And if it means being a slave, we'll have to make do with that. Just get in my hat after I'm transformed so you won't get caught."
"But" Tael tried to protest. He was too late. Skull Kid put on the Deku Mask. Its contours shifted, matching those of his round head and duck-like beak. Suddenly the pain started. He screamed and clutched his face as his innards shriveled away, his frame shrunk, his very flesh petrified into wood. He started to scream in pain, so clamped his hands over his beak/snout so the guards wouldn't hear him. He closed his eyes, almost blacking out from the pain. Then it was over. He opened his eyes and saw the world looked a little bigger. Tael stared at him in shock. "Whoa."
Skull Kid ran over to the water and looked at his reflection. Despite the distortion from the poison, he could see himself quite well. He looked a lot like the scrub Link had become when he/Majora had cursed him in the first place, except for a few differences. First of all, his eyes weren't stuck in an expression that made him look sad. They were quite normal, but a bit beadier than the average scrub's eyes. His snout was completely normal. He had his scarecrow-like hat on his head with a few leaves here and there. His gloves and boots remained intact, along with his belt and the bottom part of his tunic. Recalling how Link had said the Ocarina of Time had transformed into a different instrument for each of his forms, Skull Kid checked his pack to see if his flute had become a set of trumpets. It hadn't. It was still a flute. Oh well. He had more important things to focus on right now. "Cool! I'm a Deku Scrub! Okay Tael, time to hide. Skull Kid pulled off his hat so Tael
could hide in it. As Skull Kid put it back on, he said, "And remember, whatever you do, don't come out unless I give the OK. Got it?"
"Got it." Whispered Tael.
"Good. Let's go." He walked towards the village, hopping and walking across the lily pads and bridges.
As he approached one of the houses that two Deku Scrubs had just walked in, a Stalfos spotted him. "Hey! You! What are you doing out of the work area?" The Stalfos, who had been on a nearby bridge, walked over.
"Uhhhhhhhhh...my shift ended."
"Oh, all right then. Is this your house?"
"Yes. Yes it is."
"Ah. Go in then." Skull Kid started for the door to the house when he got called back. "Hey, I don't recall seeing any Scrubs with scarecrow hats before!"
"I found it." Said Skull Kid quickly.
"Found it where?"
"On the ground."
"Which ground?"
"The Deku Tree's meadow?"
"Hmm. That doesn't look like a Kokiri hat."
"It isn't. It's a Skull Kid hat."
"What was it doing there?"
"A Skull Kid left it."
"Why did he leave it?"
"I don't know. Have there been any Skull Kids around recently?"
"Of course not! The great Majora ordered all Skull Kids to be put to slave labor as well, but we haven't found a one."
"Then this hat must have been left before Majora took over, right?"
The Stalfos pondered that. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Then that means I would have no knowledge of why it was left behind, now would I?"
The Stalfos considered. "Oh yeah, good point. Okay, go home now. I guess I'll be seeing you next two shift changes."
"Guess so." Said Skull Kid, going inside the house.
The door was closed behind him and locked shut. Skull Kid looked around. He was sharing the hut with two female scrubs and a lone Kokiri. There were, of course, no fairies. Skull Kid had never seen a female Deku Scrub except for the Deku Princess/Queen so got his first look at normal female scrubs. Just like males, they were pretty short, but had kinder-looking eyes. Their snouts weren't as wide or as long as male Deku Scrubs. They each wore a simple cloth with a neck-hole for raiment. Their heads were round, and their eyes closer set. Or was it the smallness of the snouts that gave them that appearance? Their hair/leaves were braided and at ankle-length. The one on the left wore a cloth with a pattern of triangles and the other had a pattern of squares. The house's occupants looked up, surprised to see a new roommate. "Who are you?" asked the Kokiri.
"I'm Skull Kid." He said automatically.
The female scrubs looked at him. "That doesn't sound like a Deku Scrub name." Said the triangle-patterned one.
"Well, I'm not a Deku Scrub." Said Skull Kid.
The Kokiri frowned. "You look like a Deku Scrub."
The Scrubs got off their bench and waddled over. The square-patterned scrub sniffed him. "You smell like a Deku Scrub."
"And you sound like a Deku Scrub." Said the triangle-patterned scrub.
"No really, I'm an imp." Said Skull Kid. "Let me just take off this mask." He pulled off the Deku mask and was suddenly himself again. The three people in the house gasped. "I'm a Skull Kid named Skull Kid. I'm here on a quest. Who are you guys?"
The Kokiri finally spoke. "I'm Mido, official cook of the Kokiri race. My fairy and I made the best cakes in the forest until the demon came."
"I'm Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp. The other scrub is my sister, Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp." Said the square-patterned scrub.
"Nice to meet you." Said Skull Kid. He took off his hat, shaking Tael. "This is my fairy, Tael."
Mido was surprised to see a fairy that had not been captured and put in a glass cage like the others. Skull Kid told them of his quest to save the world from Majora. They didn't believe him at first, but he had turned into an imp from a Deku Scrub, so they weren't sure what to believe. Skull Kid wanted to know what the situation here at the forest was. Mido started the story. "One week ago, just after sunrise, all the monsters in the Woods came out and attacked the village. They were led by Master Stalfos and another monster, humanoid but fifteen feet tall, with green skin, tattoos, a loincloth, a huge sword and a weird mask."
"That would be the demon Odolwa, one of Majora's lieutenants." Said Skull Kid.
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp nodded. "That was what he said his name was. After they secured the village, they held the two leaders, that Saria girl and our new queen Deku squeak squeak squeak squeak burp burp heeeep until the demon Majora arrived. He did something unbelievably horrible."
"What did he do?" asked Tael.
"Something too horrible for me to speak of." Said the scrub.
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp continued where her sister had left off. "The demon, using only his right hand, ripped the Deku Tree form the earth, roots and all. He then incinerated the Deku Sprout with his heat vision, and said he was taking the tree back to the moon with him for firewood. He put us to work mining the diamonds that had been buried beneath the tree, for his collection of priceless stones. There are millions of diamonds in the mine, and we find hundreds each shift. The guards take them all, and beat us up if we protest or even look at a guard the wrong way. We are in dire need of aid. You say you can help us. Is that true?"
Skull Kid carefully considered his response. "I will help you, but I need some information. Where did Odolwa take Saria and the Queen?"
"When the lands combined, so did the temples." said Mido. "The Forest and Woodfall Temples have become Forestfall temple. That is where the demon took Saria and the Deku's Queen."
"Would any of you happen to know how we could work our way through the woods?"
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp shook her head. "When the demons arrived, the hero of the Deku Race, Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep hid himself to see what was going on. Majora was too busy gloating over his conquest to sense him, so when he left for the other areas of Hymina, and Odolwa went to the temple with his captives in hand, the hero was able to follow him to the temple, memorizing the route. He made his way back and planned a sneak attack to get into the tree house of the great hero Link, knowing there would be useful supplies in there. But since the tree house is in the Master Stalfos' throne room, formerly our Queen's throne room, it would not be easy to get into. But he tried. He got caught, and attempted to fight his way out. Just before being captured, he killed a female Wolfos. This has caused all the Wolfos to go into a rage and are demanding the death of our hero."
"What's so bad about killing a female Wolfos?" asked Skull Kid.
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp was about to answer, but Tael interrupted. "Wait, I know this one! Male Wolfos are very protective of their mates, even though female Wolfos can take care of themselves. In the wild, if a male Wolfos does anything harmful to a female, the female's mate will often challenge the perpetrator to a deathmatch in retaliation. The Wolfos must want to kill Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep very much."
"They do," said Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp, looking a bit peeved that Tael had interrupted her. "Our hero is now awaiting some unknown sentence, probably death."
"No, they're going to turn him into a Mad Scrub. I overheard a conversation the Master Stalfos had with an emissary." Said Skull Kid. The scrubs gasped. "I take it that's bad." The scrubs nodded. "Well, I'll try to save your hero before it's too late. Don't worry. Now, shouldn't we be getting some sleep or something?"
Mido frowned. "Shouldn't you be saving us now or something?"
"I need time to think up a plan, and I'll probably need to experience a day in your lives to get the lowdown on the area." They didn't look too happy about this, but agreed. It was obvious that they were hoping for an immediate rescue. Skull Kid turned into a Deku Scrub and dove into a spare Deku Flower, soon falling asleep.
The next day, they were all woken up by a Wolfos' howl. The sisters pulled a still-snoozing Skull Kid from his flower. Tael quickly flew into his hat as the front door opened. A Stalfos ushered them out. They joined a line of other scrubs and Kokiri, heading for the Tree's clearing. As they passed onto the banks of the stream going to the meadow, the exhausted workers from the graveyard shift were led back to the village. They looked even worse than the slaves of the current shift were! They looked like they hadn't slept well for a long time, even though it had only been a week. Skull Kid was starting to get really worried, since the graveyard shift workers were starting to look a lot like he had when he hadn't had food or a bath for over a year. Soon, the line reached the clearing where the Deku Tree used to be. In its place was a shallow pit, dug by the hands of four dozen-slave laborers. The river of poison water had been diverted away from the pit t keep the diamonds
from any possible acid damage. At the bottom of the pit, Skull Kid could see the glittering of diamonds, leftover from the last shift. As the workers entered the pit, they got into certain positions, each to a task. Most were made to dig up the diamonds with crude stone pickaxes. Others were made to wheel carts from the work area to the payload elevator and back. The payload elevator was a system of pulleys that lifted and lowered a platform for the diamonds dumped onto them from the carts. When the platform reached the top, the surrounding Wolfos and Hiploops would move the diamonds from the lifts onto sheets of burlap. The burlap was then tied to a Dragonfly, forming a sack, so it would fly the diamonds to a specified drop-off point. Skull kid had no idea how the diamonds would get to Majora, but he was sure they would make it to him. What terrified Skull Kid the most was what ran the elevators. The complex pulley system was connected to a giant exercise wheel. Scrubs and
Kokiri were forced into the wheel and whipped until they ran, turning the wheel and lifting the elevator. But he was surprised when he saw the expression on the faces of the Stalfos overseers whenever they punished a worker for not toiling fast enough. They actually looked sorry. Was that possible? As everyone knew, Stalfos and all the other beasts were evil monsters. Or were they? What if they really were only being evil because they had no choice? What if they were being mean because they had become that way thanks to people perceiving them as nothing more than monsters? Acting like beasts because everyone saw them as such? He knew that in Hyrule, everyone saw Deku Scrubs as monsters, despite their intelligence. But in Termina, Deku Scrubs had become members of modern society. Did that mean something? Did it show that monsters had feelings too? After all, the Stalfos had all been human once. And the other monsters might not be so dumb and dangerous after all. The Wolfos
guarding the Palace Gate had talked, and Skull Kid had never known of a Wolfos to talk before. He could understand the feeling. During his thousand or so years of poverty, everyone looked down at him because he was basically thought of as a monster, an imp, something different from the norm. In that case, were these monsters any different from him? His musings were interrupted by a sharp snap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a Stalfos brandishing a whip. "Hey, you, back to work!" he said. Skull Kid paused, looking at the guard. The guard whipped him again. Skull Kid had felt worse. This didn't hurt him as much as it would have centuries ago. The Stalfos seemed surprised, and a bit worried. "Please get to work. I don't know how much that hurt, but I don't want to get in trouble with the Master Stalfos for failing my job. Please, get to work before you force me to hit you again." Skull Kid could see the guilt and sadness in the skeleton's eyes. He turned away, looking
for a spare tool to use to get to work. As he walked away, Skull Kid could hear the guard's sigh of relief. This confirmed his suspicions. It seemed that the Kokiri and the Scrubs were not the only slaves in this forest. Skull Kid found a cart and quickly started wheeling it back and forth with the diamonds. He saw other people getting whipped, and each time he saw the Stalfos responsible having a sad expression on his or her face. He nodded to himself and kept working, not wanting to put any more Stalfos through a guilt trip. He carted for hours, getting exhausted, just like his fellow workers. Finally, it was time for lunch. Each worker was given a bowl of something that looked, smelled, and tasted even worse than gruel. After the fifteen-minute break, everyone got back to work. Skull Kid headed over to the carts, only to learn it was now his turn to help with the elevators. The exercise wheels were horrible. Skull Kid had to keep from losing his footing and being trampled
by the other runners. There was always a Stalfos nearby to whip them to go faster. For some reason, they had to keep running even when the carts were loading. It hardly seemed efficient, but then Skull Kid noticed that the wheel wasn't actually hooked up to the pulley mechanism until the carts came by to drop off the diamonds. Then the elevator was hooked up until it reached the top, where it was unhooked so the diamonds could be unloaded, then hooked and unhooked once more so the elevator returned to the ground. It was a horrible ordeal. At last, the sun set, signaling the end of the workday, so they all went back to the village for the night. They passed the graveyard shift, which didn't look as if they had gotten much sleep during the day. Skull Kid finally reached the house he was sharing with Mido and the two sisters, his roommates right behind them. When they got in, the door was locked, as always, so they were able to talk.
They were impressed with how he had stood up to two lashings without batting an eye. "How did you keep from screaming out?" asked Mido. "I've been whipped half a dozen times and each time I had to struggle to keep from crying."
"Yeah, each time I've been whipped, it felt like a stretchy root whacking me in the face, but a thousand times worse." Said Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp said.
Skull Kid shrugged as he let Tael out of his hat to stretch his wings. "It's no big deal. I've lived through worse." They all gave him a look saying to explain but he revealed no more on this subject. Skull Kid told them how he had discovered the guards themselves had no choice but to obey the Master Stalfos. They were slaves too. The prisoners weren't sure whether to believe this or not. Eventually, they got tired and went to bed. Skull Kid put on the Stone Mask. "Tael, tonight's the night. Tonight we will break out of here and free everyone from the Master Stalfos."
"How are we getting out?" asked Tael.
Skull Kid pulled a lock pick out of his belt. "This way." He said. He easily picked the lock and exited the house. The guards immediately saw the opening and closing of the door. They ran over, confused, only to find nothing. Confused, they went back to their posts. Skull Kid decided a distraction would be in order if he were going to get by the Stalfos patrolling the Palace Bridge. Finally, he got one. He pulled out his hookshot and aimed it at the fairy cage over the door of the house he had exited. He fired the hookshot, freeing the fairy. He repeated the process at every house in the village, until all of them were free. The Stalfos, Wolfos and Hiploops were running around in circles trying to catch the guardian fairies, which were trying to find their partners. The Stalfos guarding the bridge came to join the chase as well, none of them wanting to get in trouble for letting the fairies escape. Instead of heading for the Wolfos-guarded front gate, Skull Kid was reminded
of how Link had saved a monkey from the prison cell. He looked around and saw a trail of lily pads leading to the right side of the palace. He looked behind him to make sure all the Stalfos were busy, and looked forward to make sure the Wolfos weren't looking. When the coast was clear, he took off the Stone Mask and put on the Deku Mask, transforming into a scrub. He skipped from lily pad to lily pad until he reached a small beach on the side of the palace. There was a high ledge that he could reach if he had a Deku Flower, but there was none. Fortunately, he didn't need one. He pulled off his Mask and whipped out his hookshot, aiming for one of the wooden poles that made up the palace. He fired, pulling himself up. He donned the Deku Mask once more, knowing he would need it. He walked through the passage on the ledge and found himself in the east palace garden. In front of him, on a jutting platform, was a Deku Flower. Patrolling around the garden below were several
Stalfos. Moving back and forth was a floating platform with a Deku Flower. In front of a low wall was a watchtower with another Deku Flower and a Mad Scrub. Skull Kid remembered what Link had to do to get through. He burrowed into the Deku Flower, waiting for the platform to come closer. When it was almost at the end of its trip, Skull Kid popped out and flew to the platform. As the platform continued moving, Skull Kid waited until he was in range, then shot the Mad Scrub with a bubble, knocking him off the tower. Skull Kid burrowed into the flower then popped out and flew to the watchtower. Over the low wall he could see another platform making its rounds and another watchtower, complete with Mad Scrub. He waited until the platform was in range, then flew to it, took out the Mad Scrub, flew to the watchtower, and flew to a ledge leading to a door. He went through the door and found himself on abridge that went over the corridor that led straight to the throne room. He
walked across the bridge and entered the West Palace Garden. He was on another ledge with a flower. He could see another watchtower with a Mad Scrub. He knocked out the Scrub from the ledge, then flew to the watchtower. Another floating platform moved back and forth in front of another low wall. He flew to the platform when it was in range and was immediately bombarded by nuts from a Mad Scrub on a watchtower across the low wall. Skull Kid knocked out the Scrub with a bubble and flew to the watchtower. He was in the final area. He could see the tall green tower that was the Palace to his right. The ledge that led to the prison cell was fairly high up. A floating platform flew from around the watchtower to the ledge. Skull Kid flew to the platform and burrowed into the flower, waiting until the platform was high enough to make the flight to the ledge. When he was at the right altitude, he popped out of the flower and flew onto the ledge.
"Wow!" said Tael. "I'm impressed. You've mastered this body's powers so quickly, it's like you were born this way!"
Skull Kid shrugged. "It was nothing. I guess this body has its own instincts. Come on, let's go save that guy!"
They went into the palace and found themselves inside the jail cell. Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep looked up in surprise as they entered. "Who...who are you?"
Skull Kid pulled off the mask, startling the hero. "I'm here to rescue you. Hold still while I cut your ropes." Skull Kid climbed the pole and sliced the Scrub down.
As Skull Kid jumped down, Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep was still astounded. "How did you do that?"
"It's a mask I got from a friend of mine. Since I can't really speak your names too well, mind if I just call you Deku for the moment?"
Deku nodded. "Yes, it's okay. Now, why did you rescue me?"
"I'm here to liberate the people of the forest from the rule of Majora. I suppose you know that the monsters are slaves as well?" Deku nodded. "Good. I'll be able to fix everything, but I need to know the path to Forestfall. Can you tell me?"
Deku sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know where Forestfall is." Skull Kid and Tael sagged. "But I do know who can help you. When I was chasing Odolwa, he was too fast to keep up with, and I quickly got lost. My friend, the monkey Oop was able to lead me back to the village, where I tried to liberate my people. When I failed, I told the Master Stalfos I had been able to follow Odolwa to protect the monkeys. If anyone knows where the Temple is, they do."
Skull Kid sighed in relief. "Thanks. Let's get you out of here. I've got to get to the temple."
"You'll need to know the Sonata of Awakening if you want to enter the temple. Do you know it?" Skull Kid and Tael shook their heads. "Then I'll tell it to you. Since we don't want to alert the Master Stalfos, I'll whistle it instead of play it."
Deku started whistling the tune. Skull Kid followed along with his flute. When the song was done, Skull Kid had learned the Sonata of Awakening. "Um, guys?" said Tael. "I think we're in trouble."
"What do you mean?" asked Deku.
"Look at the throne room." Said Tael.
Skull Kid and Deku looked at the throne room and saw that every Stalfos, including the Master Stalfos, saw them. The Master slowly clapped his hands, grinning. "Well played, well played. That was a nice song." His grin got wider. "As a reward for your music, you shall all die." He turned to the guards. "Prepare the pot of poison water and take them both out of that cell!" The Stalfos opened the cell door, bringing Deku and Skull Kid before the Master. By the time they reached the throne, the pot was set up. Deku was taken to the pot and dangled by his feet above the cauldron of purple water. The Master grinned at Skull Kid. "So, one of the lowly forest imps has finally showed themselves, eh? What do you have to say for yourself, weak one?" Skull Kid merely glared. The Master didn't like that. "Whip him!" Reluctantly, several Stalfos whipped Skull Kid at once. He didn't flinch even once as the whips dug into his skin, bleeding. He just glared at the Master Stalfos, the one
who was forcing all in the village to do hard labor. The Master Stalfos was surprised that Skull Kid hadn't even cried out. "You withstood those whips. You're a strong lad, aren't you? How would you like to become my lieutenant?"
Still glaring, Skull Kid said, "I'd rather be dunked in lava then become a sick bastard like you."
The Stalfos gasped. The Master Stalfos was furious. "You dare insult me in my own home? Surrounded by my own men? I shall kill you!" He stood up. The Stalfos backed away from the center of the room, knowing things were about to get intense. Every one of them hoped that the little imp might defeat the Master by some chance of fate. The Master Stalfos walked off of his throne, drew his sword and shield, and prepared to fight.
Skull Kid turned to Tael. "How do I beat this guy?"
Tael used Z-targeting as Skull Kid backed away from the Master, his dagger and shield ready. "His shield is impervious to attacks from any other being that isn't using magic. His sword can fly and homes in on its target. He can use his sword while hiding behind his shield. The first thing you have to do is find a way to break that shield."
How am I going to do that? Thought Skull Kid. The Master Stalfos threw his sword. It floated in the air then propelled itself right at Skull Kid. Skull Kid raised his shield, deflecting it. The sword wobbled then came back at him. Skull kid ran around Link's tree house, but the sword kept matching his movements. He tried running in circles, but the sword kept coming. Then he got an idea. If his shield is impervious to attacks from any other being that aren't magic, what about attacks from him? He ran towards the Master Stalfos, who was hiding behind his huge shield. He stood in front of the shield as the sword came right towards him. At the last instant, he jumped away. The sword struck the shield, shattering it. The Stalfos cheered until the Master glared at them. The Master picked up his sword and threw it at Skull Kid again. Skull Kid had another idea. He stood in front of the tree house. As the sword hurtled towards him, he jumped out of the way, and the sword imbedded
itself in the tree trunk. Cursing, Master Stalfos ran over to pull it out. As he struggled to pull out his sword, Skull Kid ran over and slashed at the skeleton's legs with his dagger. As the holy blade made contact with the evil monster's body, it glowed faintly. The cut Skull kid had made with the dagger burned with white flames. The Master Stalfos moaned and turned around. He jumped in the air, trying to stomp Skull Kid. He rolled out of the way and made a horizontal cut, hurting the Master Stalfos once more. Skull Kid continued slashing at the skeleton whenever he had the chance. Finally, the Master Stalfos could take no more. He groaned and fell to his knees, then fell further, hitting the ground. His body combusted and broke apart. The sword, still embedded in the tree, shattered. Skull put away his weapon and shield and looked around at the awestruck Stalfos. A minute later, they started cheering, for they were free. Deku was immediately set free and then led the
monsters to the village to free the others. Skull Kid went past them towards the tunnel to the Lost Woods/Woods of Mystery. As he started through the tunnel, Tael stopped him.
"What is it, Tael?" asked Skull Kid.
"Skull Kid, I just wanted to say two things. First of all, you did really well back there, fighting the Master Stalfos. I think Link and your mom would be proud."
Skull Kid grinned. "You mean that?"
"Yeah! You were totally cool! But as for the other thing, how did you get so resistant to whips?"
Skull Kid stopped. "Tael, remember how I told you all of my days of thievery?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, I lied a little. When I started getting captured near the end of my career, my captors didn't just throw me into a cell. I was tortured first."
Tael was shocked. "Why didn't you..."
"It was too hurtful to talk about, but I suppose I should tell you. When the Deku caught me, I was tied low on a post and the Scrubs got to slap me around with spin attacks until I fell unconscious. When the Gorons caught me, they forced me to listen to their karaoke. When the Zoras caught me, they slapped me with frozen herring. When the undead of Ikana Canyon caught me, they let the Redeads and Gibdos suck life out of me. When the humans caught me, they beat me with stick." He shuddered. "But the Gerudo were the worst of all."
"What did they do?" asked Tael, not sure he wanted to know.
"They whipped me, dripped hot oil on me, whipped me, hit me on the head with the broad side of their scimitars, whipped me, break my fingers, whipped me, break my toes, whipped me, dunked me in their sewer, whipped me, unleashed their pet Shell Blades on me, whipped me, punched and kicked me, whipped me, branded me with hot irons, whipped me, whipped me, and whipped me. Oh, and did I forget to mention they whipped me?" Tael stared at him in disbelief. "The Gerudo were the last people I tried to steal from. It was after that weeklong torture session that I decided to retire. And you know where that led to." He sighed.
Tael finally spoke up. "I'm sorry I brought it up." Skull Kid didn't respond as he walked into the tunnel. Tael flew after him. "Skull kid, I'm really, really sorry I"
Skull kid turned around. "Don't be sorry, Tael. You didn't know. Now come on, we have to find a monkey."
"You called?" said a voice from above. They looked around startled. A monkey jumped down from a tree. "I'm a monkey. Is there something you want?"
Skull Kid nodded. "Can you show us the way to Forestfall?"
The monkey nodded. "You should probably get some sleep first. I will show you in the morning. I'll show you a place where you can sleep safely."
"Thanks, we'd really appreciate that," said Tael. The monkey led them to a meadow with a tree covered by a soft bed of moss. Skull kid took off his hat so Tael could sleep in it. Leaving it on the ground, he stretched out on the moss and went to sleep.
The next morning, the monkey woke them up. He showed them a freshwater stream where Skull kid could wash up, and some tasty berry bushes. After eating, Skull Kid asked the monkey if they could go now. The monkey nodded. "Follow me!" He ran off into the woods. Skull Kid and Link gave chase. They ran past Snappers as they followed the monkey, barely dodging the deadly turtles. After about a half-hour of running, the monkey cam to a halt at the banks of a large pool of dark purple poison water. The small extinct volcano that was now Forestfall had formed the pool. The poison streamed down its sides, making the pool around its base. The streams of poison wove through the forest. All the plants on the stream banks were withered and dead from the poison. The monkey chittered. "This is Forestfall. If you wish to get to the temple within, you must have some way of bridging gaps and climbing. Well, I've got to get home. Good luck!" The monkey ran away.
"He was a very polite monkey." Commented Tael.
"Yeah, I wonder if he has any relation to that Oop Deku mentioned. Oh well. Let's climb this mountain." Said Skull Kid.
"But Skull Kid, the entrance is way up there! How do we reach it?" said Tael, indicating a ledge with a door halfway up the side of Forestfall.
Skull Kid whipped out his Hookshot and targeted a ledge closer to the ground with a dead tree. He fired and pulled himself over to the tree. He targeted another tree and repeated the process. A dozen trees later, they made it to the door. They walked in and found a tall ladder. Skull Kid climbed the ladder to the top and came out inside of Forestfall. The crater was filled with water that was an even darker shade of purple. There were many elevated bridges and pillars made from tree stumps, all with Deku Flowers and Mad Scrubs. Sticking out of the middle of the crater were two dead trees. A bizarre, new species of monster patrolled the bridges. "What are those things?" asked Skull Kid.
"Those are Mobloops," said Tael. "A new species of monster created by Odolwa. It's half Moblin, half Hiploop. Skull kid, I should warn you of something else. The monsters around and inside the temple are doing evil of their own free will, so you'll have to kill them to get by."
Skull Kid nodded. "I understand. Tell me more about these Mobloops." He said, looking at the hideous monster. It had the basic body and chain mail shorts of a Moblin, but a second set of arms and the head of a Hiploop. Also, it walked on all hands and legs.
"The Mobloop can kill you by knocking you into the poisonous water below. Try to knock it into the water instead, or hit it with a couple of attacks. You should probably turn into a Scrub to get across these bridges."
Skull Kid nodded and put on the Deku Mask. He skipped across the water to the nearest bridge, where he knocked an unsuspecting Mobloop into the water with a spin attack. He killed the nearby Mad Scrub and used its flower to get to the next bridge, where he killed another Mad Scrub and made the flight to a tall platform directly across from the entrance. It had flags hanging from it, a hexagonal platform with a Triforce symbol on it and an owl statue in the center, and an altar with the Deku Scrub symbol mixed with the Forest Temple seal. Skull Kid landed on it, unsure what to do. "Hey Tael, what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know. Maybe you should play that Sonata of Awakening Deku taught us?"
"Yeah, that might work." Skull Kid reached into his pack for his flute and pulled it out. Sticking it up to his snout, he played the Sonata of Awakening. At first, nothing happened. Then, the earth started shaking. The water rippled. The trees in the middle of the crater shook as suddenly, something erupted from the water, splashing poison everywhere. As a tidal wave of poison came hurtling towards Skull Kid and Tael, Tael quickly flew into Skull Kid's hat just before Skull Kid put up his Deku Shield, sealing them beneath a completely safe shell. The wave of poison splashed over them, and subsided. When the roar of the wave passed, Skull Kid dared to peek out from under the shell. When he saw what had caused the wave, he retracted his shell and shook Tael out of his hat.
"Hey, why'd you do...that...?" said Tael, before noticing the temple. Skull Kid and Tael had seen it before, back when Skull Kid had been possessed. But back then, he had been able to breathe under water to reach the temple thanks to the demon. But now, it had risen from the crater. It was a huge stone building, atop a massive stone base. The two dead trees were planted on the temple, their roots splayed over it. It looked much like it had before, but now it had the peaked roof of the Forest Temple. "Wow." Said Tael.
"Come on, we've gotta go in." said Skull Kid. He burrowed into the Deku Flower in front of him and flew over to the temple, landing in front of the door. He paused.
"Aren't you going to go in?" asked Tael.
Skull Kid would have grinned, but his snout didn't allow for that. "Of course I'm going in! I was just checking to make sure you were going in!"
"Are you saying I'm a coward?"
"Of course not! I just wanted to make sure you were catching up. I wouldn't want to lose you or anything."
"Great! Let's go!" Together, they entered the temple.
And this ends another chapter. If anyone has any suggestions for the temple puzzles, leave them in your review. There's a chance I'll use them, but I might not. It depends partly on whether or not you do review! So please review. I'll see you next installment.
Disclaimer: Blah blah blah.
Chapter 2
Skull Kid and Tael looked around. They were in the Chamber of Sages, standing in the middle of the Triforce platform. All of the platforms for the Sages were empty, except for the Light platform, which Rauru was standing on. Rauru looked like he had been expecting them. "Ah, so at last you have arrived," he said. "The Goddess of Time informed me of your quest. I am here to start your journey. I know of the first guardian, Aeolus, Dragon of Light. I saw my father create him from particles of light after he had finished building this temple. He is the only dragon who was not killed by the poachers, but the other guardians and all the other normal dragons of ancient Hyrule were wiped out. Aeolus died out of grief and loneliness. He told me to recreate him during the solar equinox when all the other dragons were reborn." He paused. "You're probably wondering how I can help you."
"Yeah, we were wondering that." Said Tael.
"Well, I can give you information on the other temples and dragons, not to mention send you back to Hymina each time you visit. But first, let me give you something."
He raised his arms. High in the ceiling, there was a flash of light. A small object fell from the ceiling, landing in Skull Kid's hands. It was a yellow medallion, with a Triforce image on the back and a symbol of three inward-pointing triangles with a dot between each triangle on the front. "Cool! What is it?" asked Skull Kid.
"That is a Light Medallion. It has no real power, but it might come in handy. As long as you're here, I might give you this as well." Rauru tossed Skull Kid another medallion, this one purple. The symbol on the front was a triangle surrounded by three dots. "This is a Shadow Medallion. Impa is supposed to give it to you, but she's a little busy in Kakariko Village. She's the only Sage aside from myself who is not imprisoned. You now only need to collect eight more medallions and the first part of the quest will be finished. Now, are you ready to hear about where you're going?" Skull Kid nodded. "The Kokiri built the Forest Temple under the direction of Saria's ancestor, Saria." Skull Kid couldn't help chuckling. "Do you know how Kokiri are born?"
"No, not really." admitted Skull Kid.
"The Kokiri are immortal, but in the rare occasion that one dies, his/her fairy dies as well, but are reborn from the Deku Tree with no memories. They are completely new people. This has happened to Saria twice. It is only in her third incarnation that she has become Forest Sage once again."
"Sorry for laughing." Said Skull Kid.
"It's alright. Now, as for the guardian, Saria created the dragon Alexandra from leaves and bark. Those horrible poachers killed her six hundred years ago, like the rest of the green dragons of the forest." He cleared his throat. "As for Woodfall, it was built by the Deku Scrubs a thousand years ago as well to honor their god, the Deku Tree. I can see your obvious confusion on this. Let me explain. The Deku Tree is one of the four gods that created Termina. He had a hand in creating the forests of Hyrule as well, and decided to stay with his creation. To do so, he had to give up most of his godly powers. He was fine with that. The same thing happened with Jabu-Jabu, who also helped create Termina."
"Ah, I understand." Said Skull Kid.
"Good. Now, you shall be sent to the forest, where Link's first quest began."
"Wait! Can't we stop off at Mesmoria and tell mom what's going on?" asked Tael.
"No, there isn't enough time. You have only five weeks. Besides, Queen Spryte has already been informed of the situation and given approval for you to go on this quest. Now, are you ready to go forth and save the world, probably even the entire universe?"
"I guess so." Said Skull Kid.
"Then prepare for transport." The old man raised his arms. There was a flash. Skull Kid and Tael found themselves standing in a tree house. It was Link's tree house. They could tell this because he had described it to them once. There was a back window with a couch/bed under it, shelves of stuff, and a little cushion for Navi to sleep on.
"Wow, we're in Link's tree house!" said Skull Kid. He peeked out the back window and was surprised to see the Deku throne room. But instead of Deku Scrubs, the room was filled with Stalfos. On the throne was a very big Stalfos with a large sword and shield. The jail cell held a familiar-looking Deku Scrub, who was tied to a post. He got down so the big Stalfos wouldn't notice him. "Tael," he whispered. "What's that big Stalfos sitting on the throne?"
Tael took a look. "That's the Master Stalfos. It's a really powerful Stalfos. Its shield can deflect any person's physical attacks. His sword is magical and flies towards its target when thrown, homing in on it. He must be second-in-command to whatever monster is in the temple."
"Makes sense to me." He whispered.
"Hey, I think something's happening." Whispered Tael. Skull Kid quietly walked over to the window and peeked over the sill.
A Stalfos approached the Master Stalfos. He kneeled, then got up. "Master Stalfos, the Wolfos wish to know if you have finished passing judgement on the worthless scrub who killed one of their females."
The Master Stalfos scowled. "Can't you see I'm trying to think of something?"
"Maybe we could just chop him into kindling like we do with all the rebel scrubs." suggested one of the Stalfos.
The Master shook his head. "No, no, it must be something worse to appease the Wolfos. I've got it! We won't kill him at all!"
"Then what will we do with him, master?"
The Master grinned. "We'll make him one of us! We'll turn him into a Mad Scrub!" He turned to the messenger. "Tell the Wolfos to prepare a big pot of poison water for dunking. Before the week is out, our little friend will be a lowly Mad Scrub!" the Master Stalfos laughed in a low, almost grunting cackle. None of the other Stalfos joined in.
Skull Kid looked over to the poor Scrub in the cell. "Tael, I think I know who that scrub is." He whispered.
"You do?"
"Yes. Remember that scrub I...I mean, Majora turned into a tree while I was possessed? I think that's him."
"But you turned him into a tree."
"Don't you remember? Link said he freed the poor guy from the tree curse using the Deku Mask. Even after, it still retained its powers of transformation. I wonder if it's still around. It might help us blend in."
"Why don't we look?" asked Tael. They split up and searched the tree house, which was a little bigger than one would have expected. It turned out that Link had to carve some extra rooms into the trunk of the tree to make room for his grown-up self. They found a ladder that led down to these rooms. Aside from the bathroom and bedroom on the first floor, Link also had a kitchen/dining room and a storeroom. The storeroom was where they found what they were looking for. Unfortunately, the Stalfos seemed to have taken most of the ammo for themselves. There were almost no Deku Sticks or nuts. The seed bags were gone, and there were no arrows either. They found a few of Link's old weapons. His Deku Shield and child-sized Mirror Shield were still there. The slingshot and bow were there, but there was no ammo. The Hero's Bow was gone. So were the bombs, the Bombchu, in fact almost all his old weapons. All that was left was the child-sized hookshot, a small pack, six empty bottles,
and twenty-seven masks. Twenty of those masks were the Happy Masks Link had collected in Termina. Three of them were the transformation masks. The last four were the now demon-free masks of Odolwa, Goht, Gyorg, and Twinmold. "We could use some of this!" said Tael. He flew over to the small pack. "This will hold all of our stuff."
"Tael, what are you talking about? That pack is barely large enough to hold five of those masks!"
Tael chuckled. "This is no ordinary pack. I suppose you've never heard of the special Kokiri backpack?"
"No, I haven't. What is it?"
"It's a magical pack. It can hold an unbelievable amount of items, no matter what the size. You can take all of this stuff and shove it in the pack. It will weigh nothing as well." Skull Kid had to see this for himself. He put the hookshot in the pack. They fit neatly. Then he put in all six bottles. They fit as well. Finally, he put each mask in one by one and saw that they all fit!
"Well, what do you know? You were right, Tael!"
"Of course I was. I'm your guardian fairy now. I know this kind of stuff."
"I guess putting in one more item won't hurt." He said. He pulled Majora's Mask out of his pack and put it in the pack. As an afterthought, he took out the rest of his dust vials and put them in as well, even the empty ones. He left his now-empty pack on the ground and put the new pack on his back. He picked up the Mirror Shield and strapped it on as well. "So Tael, what's our next step?"
"We could leave this tree house." Said Tael.
"Yeah, but those Stalfos will see us, unless...he rummaged through his pack and put on the Stone Mask. "This should do the trick." He said.
"Be careful, Skull Kid." Said Tael. "The mask's powers of invisibility will only work on certain enemies. I can tell which ones are or are not affected, and I know that Master Stalfos will not be affected."
"We'll just stay out of his sight then." Said Skull Kid. "The Stalfos won't see us, right?"
"Right. Don't attack them, though. We need to know the situation here." Skull Kid nodded and headed for the ladder. They climbed up to the top floor, went through the front door, and climbed down the ladder. The mask worked like a charm, which, in a way, it was. They easily passed by the Stalfos and walked outside the throne room, finding themselves in the passage leading to the outside. Since the corridor had no ceiling, the sky was visible. It was nighttime. Unfortunately, Wolfos guarded the exit. "Uh oh." Said Tael.
"What? They're just a bunch of stupid Wolfos. We'll sneak by them."
"No, Skull Kid! They can smell us! The mask's powers of invisibility won't shield your scent!"
"Hmm. That is a problem. Let me think a minute." Skull Kid thought, then got an idea. "Tael, how good is their sense of smell?"
"Very good. In fact, I'm surprised they can't smell us right now."
"Why can't they? Hey wait, do you smell something?"
"What do you...oh wait, I do smell something." They sniffed the air. It wasn't a good smell. Tael concluded that the smell was masking their scent. "However, they will still be able to smell us if we walk right by."
Skull Kid nodded, expecting this. "Don't worry. I have a plan."
"Great! What do we do?"
"Actually Tael, it's more like what you do."
A few minutes later, Tael flew up to the Wolfos. "Heyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyhey! Look at me! I'm a fairy!"
One of the Wolfos growled. "Hey Bill, it's a fairy!"
"I see it. Let's get it and put it in a cage like the others! Come on, Joe!" Tael flew down the passageway, the Wolfos giving chase. Tael led them into one of the palace gardens while Skull Kid ran down the corridor and outside. Once he got far enough away from the front gate, he saw what had been causing the smell. He gaped underneath his mask.
Tael was leading the Wolfos on a merry chase through the gardens. "Come on! Can't you two big strong Wolfos catch little old me?" Finally, he figured Skull Kid had gotten through so flew out of the Wolfos' reach, over the palace walls.
"Hey! Come back here!" yelled Joe.
"Should we tell the Master Stalfos?" asked Bill.
"And get busted for not being able to catch a single fairy? Nah, let's get back to our post."
Tael chuckled as he flew over the walls. He stopped when he saw what was on the other side. He spun around to see everything, going higher. It wasn't the transformed village itself that surprised him so much, it was what had been done to the village. The reason there had been a smell masking their scent was that the water had been poisoned. It was a bright purple in color, just like it had been in the days of the falling moon. In the not-too-far-away distance, he could see Woodfall with rings of smoke around its peak and poison water oozing down the sides. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst was the village itself. As he flew lower to get a closer look, he could see monsters all over the place. He could see Kokiri and Scrubs, but they were all battered and worn. There were brightly-glowing lamps hanging over the doorways of all the buildings, but on closer inspection they were really small glass vials with a guardian fairy crammed in each one, forced to give off light.
Dragonflies flew over the village on orderly patrols. Hiploops patrolled some of the bridges. There were Wolfos and Stalfos scattered all over the village, herding the Scrubs and Kokiri to or from the meadow of the Deku Tree. The poor prisoners were obviously slaves. Tael couldn't bear to imagine how horrible it must be for them if they looked that haggard after only one week under Majora's rule. High in the air, the grinning moon could be seen. Majora had obviously used powerful magic to defy the laws of inertia and gravity to keep it suspended in the same spot right over the land, without rotating or breaking orbit. It was now circling the planet at the same speed that the world rotated, keeping it in the same spot for observers on the ground. Tael saw Skull Kid standing on the bridge leading from the palace, just taking everything in. Tael quickly flew over to him. "Skull kid, are you all right?"
Skull Kid didn't respond for a moment. Then, he turned to Tael. "I'm fine, Tael. But they aren't. This is incentive for killing that foul demon. I can't let him get away with doing something like this."
"So why don't we head straight for the temple?"
"Because the Lost Woods have probably merged with the Woods of Mystery. That means the paths will be completely different. We need to get information on how to get through the woods and to do that we'll need to blend in."
"We could use the Captain's Hat." Suggested Tael.
Skull Kid shook his head. "No, that won't work. It only tricks Stalchildren. It won't fool those monsters for a second. We need a more devious disguise to blend in." He took off the Stone Mask and placed it in his pack. He then pulled the Deku Mask from his pack.
Tael immediately saw what he was going to do. "Skull Kid, don't! If you become a Deku Scrub, they'll put you to work with the others! And they'll stuff me in a jar!"
Skull Kid was solemn. "Tael, we have to do this. It's the only way to get our information. And if it means being a slave, we'll have to make do with that. Just get in my hat after I'm transformed so you won't get caught."
"But" Tael tried to protest. He was too late. Skull Kid put on the Deku Mask. Its contours shifted, matching those of his round head and duck-like beak. Suddenly the pain started. He screamed and clutched his face as his innards shriveled away, his frame shrunk, his very flesh petrified into wood. He started to scream in pain, so clamped his hands over his beak/snout so the guards wouldn't hear him. He closed his eyes, almost blacking out from the pain. Then it was over. He opened his eyes and saw the world looked a little bigger. Tael stared at him in shock. "Whoa."
Skull Kid ran over to the water and looked at his reflection. Despite the distortion from the poison, he could see himself quite well. He looked a lot like the scrub Link had become when he/Majora had cursed him in the first place, except for a few differences. First of all, his eyes weren't stuck in an expression that made him look sad. They were quite normal, but a bit beadier than the average scrub's eyes. His snout was completely normal. He had his scarecrow-like hat on his head with a few leaves here and there. His gloves and boots remained intact, along with his belt and the bottom part of his tunic. Recalling how Link had said the Ocarina of Time had transformed into a different instrument for each of his forms, Skull Kid checked his pack to see if his flute had become a set of trumpets. It hadn't. It was still a flute. Oh well. He had more important things to focus on right now. "Cool! I'm a Deku Scrub! Okay Tael, time to hide. Skull Kid pulled off his hat so Tael
could hide in it. As Skull Kid put it back on, he said, "And remember, whatever you do, don't come out unless I give the OK. Got it?"
"Got it." Whispered Tael.
"Good. Let's go." He walked towards the village, hopping and walking across the lily pads and bridges.
As he approached one of the houses that two Deku Scrubs had just walked in, a Stalfos spotted him. "Hey! You! What are you doing out of the work area?" The Stalfos, who had been on a nearby bridge, walked over.
"Uhhhhhhhhh...my shift ended."
"Oh, all right then. Is this your house?"
"Yes. Yes it is."
"Ah. Go in then." Skull Kid started for the door to the house when he got called back. "Hey, I don't recall seeing any Scrubs with scarecrow hats before!"
"I found it." Said Skull Kid quickly.
"Found it where?"
"On the ground."
"Which ground?"
"The Deku Tree's meadow?"
"Hmm. That doesn't look like a Kokiri hat."
"It isn't. It's a Skull Kid hat."
"What was it doing there?"
"A Skull Kid left it."
"Why did he leave it?"
"I don't know. Have there been any Skull Kids around recently?"
"Of course not! The great Majora ordered all Skull Kids to be put to slave labor as well, but we haven't found a one."
"Then this hat must have been left before Majora took over, right?"
The Stalfos pondered that. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Then that means I would have no knowledge of why it was left behind, now would I?"
The Stalfos considered. "Oh yeah, good point. Okay, go home now. I guess I'll be seeing you next two shift changes."
"Guess so." Said Skull Kid, going inside the house.
The door was closed behind him and locked shut. Skull Kid looked around. He was sharing the hut with two female scrubs and a lone Kokiri. There were, of course, no fairies. Skull Kid had never seen a female Deku Scrub except for the Deku Princess/Queen so got his first look at normal female scrubs. Just like males, they were pretty short, but had kinder-looking eyes. Their snouts weren't as wide or as long as male Deku Scrubs. They each wore a simple cloth with a neck-hole for raiment. Their heads were round, and their eyes closer set. Or was it the smallness of the snouts that gave them that appearance? Their hair/leaves were braided and at ankle-length. The one on the left wore a cloth with a pattern of triangles and the other had a pattern of squares. The house's occupants looked up, surprised to see a new roommate. "Who are you?" asked the Kokiri.
"I'm Skull Kid." He said automatically.
The female scrubs looked at him. "That doesn't sound like a Deku Scrub name." Said the triangle-patterned one.
"Well, I'm not a Deku Scrub." Said Skull Kid.
The Kokiri frowned. "You look like a Deku Scrub."
The Scrubs got off their bench and waddled over. The square-patterned scrub sniffed him. "You smell like a Deku Scrub."
"And you sound like a Deku Scrub." Said the triangle-patterned scrub.
"No really, I'm an imp." Said Skull Kid. "Let me just take off this mask." He pulled off the Deku mask and was suddenly himself again. The three people in the house gasped. "I'm a Skull Kid named Skull Kid. I'm here on a quest. Who are you guys?"
The Kokiri finally spoke. "I'm Mido, official cook of the Kokiri race. My fairy and I made the best cakes in the forest until the demon came."
"I'm Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp. The other scrub is my sister, Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp." Said the square-patterned scrub.
"Nice to meet you." Said Skull Kid. He took off his hat, shaking Tael. "This is my fairy, Tael."
Mido was surprised to see a fairy that had not been captured and put in a glass cage like the others. Skull Kid told them of his quest to save the world from Majora. They didn't believe him at first, but he had turned into an imp from a Deku Scrub, so they weren't sure what to believe. Skull Kid wanted to know what the situation here at the forest was. Mido started the story. "One week ago, just after sunrise, all the monsters in the Woods came out and attacked the village. They were led by Master Stalfos and another monster, humanoid but fifteen feet tall, with green skin, tattoos, a loincloth, a huge sword and a weird mask."
"That would be the demon Odolwa, one of Majora's lieutenants." Said Skull Kid.
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp nodded. "That was what he said his name was. After they secured the village, they held the two leaders, that Saria girl and our new queen Deku squeak squeak squeak squeak burp burp heeeep until the demon Majora arrived. He did something unbelievably horrible."
"What did he do?" asked Tael.
"Something too horrible for me to speak of." Said the scrub.
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp continued where her sister had left off. "The demon, using only his right hand, ripped the Deku Tree form the earth, roots and all. He then incinerated the Deku Sprout with his heat vision, and said he was taking the tree back to the moon with him for firewood. He put us to work mining the diamonds that had been buried beneath the tree, for his collection of priceless stones. There are millions of diamonds in the mine, and we find hundreds each shift. The guards take them all, and beat us up if we protest or even look at a guard the wrong way. We are in dire need of aid. You say you can help us. Is that true?"
Skull Kid carefully considered his response. "I will help you, but I need some information. Where did Odolwa take Saria and the Queen?"
"When the lands combined, so did the temples." said Mido. "The Forest and Woodfall Temples have become Forestfall temple. That is where the demon took Saria and the Deku's Queen."
"Would any of you happen to know how we could work our way through the woods?"
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp shook her head. "When the demons arrived, the hero of the Deku Race, Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep hid himself to see what was going on. Majora was too busy gloating over his conquest to sense him, so when he left for the other areas of Hymina, and Odolwa went to the temple with his captives in hand, the hero was able to follow him to the temple, memorizing the route. He made his way back and planned a sneak attack to get into the tree house of the great hero Link, knowing there would be useful supplies in there. But since the tree house is in the Master Stalfos' throne room, formerly our Queen's throne room, it would not be easy to get into. But he tried. He got caught, and attempted to fight his way out. Just before being captured, he killed a female Wolfos. This has caused all the Wolfos to go into a rage and are demanding the death of our hero."
"What's so bad about killing a female Wolfos?" asked Skull Kid.
Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp was about to answer, but Tael interrupted. "Wait, I know this one! Male Wolfos are very protective of their mates, even though female Wolfos can take care of themselves. In the wild, if a male Wolfos does anything harmful to a female, the female's mate will often challenge the perpetrator to a deathmatch in retaliation. The Wolfos must want to kill Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep very much."
"They do," said Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak squeak burp, looking a bit peeved that Tael had interrupted her. "Our hero is now awaiting some unknown sentence, probably death."
"No, they're going to turn him into a Mad Scrub. I overheard a conversation the Master Stalfos had with an emissary." Said Skull Kid. The scrubs gasped. "I take it that's bad." The scrubs nodded. "Well, I'll try to save your hero before it's too late. Don't worry. Now, shouldn't we be getting some sleep or something?"
Mido frowned. "Shouldn't you be saving us now or something?"
"I need time to think up a plan, and I'll probably need to experience a day in your lives to get the lowdown on the area." They didn't look too happy about this, but agreed. It was obvious that they were hoping for an immediate rescue. Skull Kid turned into a Deku Scrub and dove into a spare Deku Flower, soon falling asleep.
The next day, they were all woken up by a Wolfos' howl. The sisters pulled a still-snoozing Skull Kid from his flower. Tael quickly flew into his hat as the front door opened. A Stalfos ushered them out. They joined a line of other scrubs and Kokiri, heading for the Tree's clearing. As they passed onto the banks of the stream going to the meadow, the exhausted workers from the graveyard shift were led back to the village. They looked even worse than the slaves of the current shift were! They looked like they hadn't slept well for a long time, even though it had only been a week. Skull Kid was starting to get really worried, since the graveyard shift workers were starting to look a lot like he had when he hadn't had food or a bath for over a year. Soon, the line reached the clearing where the Deku Tree used to be. In its place was a shallow pit, dug by the hands of four dozen-slave laborers. The river of poison water had been diverted away from the pit t keep the diamonds
from any possible acid damage. At the bottom of the pit, Skull Kid could see the glittering of diamonds, leftover from the last shift. As the workers entered the pit, they got into certain positions, each to a task. Most were made to dig up the diamonds with crude stone pickaxes. Others were made to wheel carts from the work area to the payload elevator and back. The payload elevator was a system of pulleys that lifted and lowered a platform for the diamonds dumped onto them from the carts. When the platform reached the top, the surrounding Wolfos and Hiploops would move the diamonds from the lifts onto sheets of burlap. The burlap was then tied to a Dragonfly, forming a sack, so it would fly the diamonds to a specified drop-off point. Skull kid had no idea how the diamonds would get to Majora, but he was sure they would make it to him. What terrified Skull Kid the most was what ran the elevators. The complex pulley system was connected to a giant exercise wheel. Scrubs and
Kokiri were forced into the wheel and whipped until they ran, turning the wheel and lifting the elevator. But he was surprised when he saw the expression on the faces of the Stalfos overseers whenever they punished a worker for not toiling fast enough. They actually looked sorry. Was that possible? As everyone knew, Stalfos and all the other beasts were evil monsters. Or were they? What if they really were only being evil because they had no choice? What if they were being mean because they had become that way thanks to people perceiving them as nothing more than monsters? Acting like beasts because everyone saw them as such? He knew that in Hyrule, everyone saw Deku Scrubs as monsters, despite their intelligence. But in Termina, Deku Scrubs had become members of modern society. Did that mean something? Did it show that monsters had feelings too? After all, the Stalfos had all been human once. And the other monsters might not be so dumb and dangerous after all. The Wolfos
guarding the Palace Gate had talked, and Skull Kid had never known of a Wolfos to talk before. He could understand the feeling. During his thousand or so years of poverty, everyone looked down at him because he was basically thought of as a monster, an imp, something different from the norm. In that case, were these monsters any different from him? His musings were interrupted by a sharp snap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a Stalfos brandishing a whip. "Hey, you, back to work!" he said. Skull Kid paused, looking at the guard. The guard whipped him again. Skull Kid had felt worse. This didn't hurt him as much as it would have centuries ago. The Stalfos seemed surprised, and a bit worried. "Please get to work. I don't know how much that hurt, but I don't want to get in trouble with the Master Stalfos for failing my job. Please, get to work before you force me to hit you again." Skull Kid could see the guilt and sadness in the skeleton's eyes. He turned away, looking
for a spare tool to use to get to work. As he walked away, Skull Kid could hear the guard's sigh of relief. This confirmed his suspicions. It seemed that the Kokiri and the Scrubs were not the only slaves in this forest. Skull Kid found a cart and quickly started wheeling it back and forth with the diamonds. He saw other people getting whipped, and each time he saw the Stalfos responsible having a sad expression on his or her face. He nodded to himself and kept working, not wanting to put any more Stalfos through a guilt trip. He carted for hours, getting exhausted, just like his fellow workers. Finally, it was time for lunch. Each worker was given a bowl of something that looked, smelled, and tasted even worse than gruel. After the fifteen-minute break, everyone got back to work. Skull Kid headed over to the carts, only to learn it was now his turn to help with the elevators. The exercise wheels were horrible. Skull Kid had to keep from losing his footing and being trampled
by the other runners. There was always a Stalfos nearby to whip them to go faster. For some reason, they had to keep running even when the carts were loading. It hardly seemed efficient, but then Skull Kid noticed that the wheel wasn't actually hooked up to the pulley mechanism until the carts came by to drop off the diamonds. Then the elevator was hooked up until it reached the top, where it was unhooked so the diamonds could be unloaded, then hooked and unhooked once more so the elevator returned to the ground. It was a horrible ordeal. At last, the sun set, signaling the end of the workday, so they all went back to the village for the night. They passed the graveyard shift, which didn't look as if they had gotten much sleep during the day. Skull Kid finally reached the house he was sharing with Mido and the two sisters, his roommates right behind them. When they got in, the door was locked, as always, so they were able to talk.
They were impressed with how he had stood up to two lashings without batting an eye. "How did you keep from screaming out?" asked Mido. "I've been whipped half a dozen times and each time I had to struggle to keep from crying."
"Yeah, each time I've been whipped, it felt like a stretchy root whacking me in the face, but a thousand times worse." Said Deku heeeep heeeep heeeep squeak burp said.
Skull Kid shrugged as he let Tael out of his hat to stretch his wings. "It's no big deal. I've lived through worse." They all gave him a look saying to explain but he revealed no more on this subject. Skull Kid told them how he had discovered the guards themselves had no choice but to obey the Master Stalfos. They were slaves too. The prisoners weren't sure whether to believe this or not. Eventually, they got tired and went to bed. Skull Kid put on the Stone Mask. "Tael, tonight's the night. Tonight we will break out of here and free everyone from the Master Stalfos."
"How are we getting out?" asked Tael.
Skull Kid pulled a lock pick out of his belt. "This way." He said. He easily picked the lock and exited the house. The guards immediately saw the opening and closing of the door. They ran over, confused, only to find nothing. Confused, they went back to their posts. Skull Kid decided a distraction would be in order if he were going to get by the Stalfos patrolling the Palace Bridge. Finally, he got one. He pulled out his hookshot and aimed it at the fairy cage over the door of the house he had exited. He fired the hookshot, freeing the fairy. He repeated the process at every house in the village, until all of them were free. The Stalfos, Wolfos and Hiploops were running around in circles trying to catch the guardian fairies, which were trying to find their partners. The Stalfos guarding the bridge came to join the chase as well, none of them wanting to get in trouble for letting the fairies escape. Instead of heading for the Wolfos-guarded front gate, Skull Kid was reminded
of how Link had saved a monkey from the prison cell. He looked around and saw a trail of lily pads leading to the right side of the palace. He looked behind him to make sure all the Stalfos were busy, and looked forward to make sure the Wolfos weren't looking. When the coast was clear, he took off the Stone Mask and put on the Deku Mask, transforming into a scrub. He skipped from lily pad to lily pad until he reached a small beach on the side of the palace. There was a high ledge that he could reach if he had a Deku Flower, but there was none. Fortunately, he didn't need one. He pulled off his Mask and whipped out his hookshot, aiming for one of the wooden poles that made up the palace. He fired, pulling himself up. He donned the Deku Mask once more, knowing he would need it. He walked through the passage on the ledge and found himself in the east palace garden. In front of him, on a jutting platform, was a Deku Flower. Patrolling around the garden below were several
Stalfos. Moving back and forth was a floating platform with a Deku Flower. In front of a low wall was a watchtower with another Deku Flower and a Mad Scrub. Skull Kid remembered what Link had to do to get through. He burrowed into the Deku Flower, waiting for the platform to come closer. When it was almost at the end of its trip, Skull Kid popped out and flew to the platform. As the platform continued moving, Skull Kid waited until he was in range, then shot the Mad Scrub with a bubble, knocking him off the tower. Skull Kid burrowed into the flower then popped out and flew to the watchtower. Over the low wall he could see another platform making its rounds and another watchtower, complete with Mad Scrub. He waited until the platform was in range, then flew to it, took out the Mad Scrub, flew to the watchtower, and flew to a ledge leading to a door. He went through the door and found himself on abridge that went over the corridor that led straight to the throne room. He
walked across the bridge and entered the West Palace Garden. He was on another ledge with a flower. He could see another watchtower with a Mad Scrub. He knocked out the Scrub from the ledge, then flew to the watchtower. Another floating platform moved back and forth in front of another low wall. He flew to the platform when it was in range and was immediately bombarded by nuts from a Mad Scrub on a watchtower across the low wall. Skull Kid knocked out the Scrub with a bubble and flew to the watchtower. He was in the final area. He could see the tall green tower that was the Palace to his right. The ledge that led to the prison cell was fairly high up. A floating platform flew from around the watchtower to the ledge. Skull Kid flew to the platform and burrowed into the flower, waiting until the platform was high enough to make the flight to the ledge. When he was at the right altitude, he popped out of the flower and flew onto the ledge.
"Wow!" said Tael. "I'm impressed. You've mastered this body's powers so quickly, it's like you were born this way!"
Skull Kid shrugged. "It was nothing. I guess this body has its own instincts. Come on, let's go save that guy!"
They went into the palace and found themselves inside the jail cell. Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep looked up in surprise as they entered. "Who...who are you?"
Skull Kid pulled off the mask, startling the hero. "I'm here to rescue you. Hold still while I cut your ropes." Skull Kid climbed the pole and sliced the Scrub down.
As Skull Kid jumped down, Deku squeak squeak burp squeak burp heeeep was still astounded. "How did you do that?"
"It's a mask I got from a friend of mine. Since I can't really speak your names too well, mind if I just call you Deku for the moment?"
Deku nodded. "Yes, it's okay. Now, why did you rescue me?"
"I'm here to liberate the people of the forest from the rule of Majora. I suppose you know that the monsters are slaves as well?" Deku nodded. "Good. I'll be able to fix everything, but I need to know the path to Forestfall. Can you tell me?"
Deku sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't know where Forestfall is." Skull Kid and Tael sagged. "But I do know who can help you. When I was chasing Odolwa, he was too fast to keep up with, and I quickly got lost. My friend, the monkey Oop was able to lead me back to the village, where I tried to liberate my people. When I failed, I told the Master Stalfos I had been able to follow Odolwa to protect the monkeys. If anyone knows where the Temple is, they do."
Skull Kid sighed in relief. "Thanks. Let's get you out of here. I've got to get to the temple."
"You'll need to know the Sonata of Awakening if you want to enter the temple. Do you know it?" Skull Kid and Tael shook their heads. "Then I'll tell it to you. Since we don't want to alert the Master Stalfos, I'll whistle it instead of play it."
Deku started whistling the tune. Skull Kid followed along with his flute. When the song was done, Skull Kid had learned the Sonata of Awakening. "Um, guys?" said Tael. "I think we're in trouble."
"What do you mean?" asked Deku.
"Look at the throne room." Said Tael.
Skull Kid and Deku looked at the throne room and saw that every Stalfos, including the Master Stalfos, saw them. The Master slowly clapped his hands, grinning. "Well played, well played. That was a nice song." His grin got wider. "As a reward for your music, you shall all die." He turned to the guards. "Prepare the pot of poison water and take them both out of that cell!" The Stalfos opened the cell door, bringing Deku and Skull Kid before the Master. By the time they reached the throne, the pot was set up. Deku was taken to the pot and dangled by his feet above the cauldron of purple water. The Master grinned at Skull Kid. "So, one of the lowly forest imps has finally showed themselves, eh? What do you have to say for yourself, weak one?" Skull Kid merely glared. The Master didn't like that. "Whip him!" Reluctantly, several Stalfos whipped Skull Kid at once. He didn't flinch even once as the whips dug into his skin, bleeding. He just glared at the Master Stalfos, the one
who was forcing all in the village to do hard labor. The Master Stalfos was surprised that Skull Kid hadn't even cried out. "You withstood those whips. You're a strong lad, aren't you? How would you like to become my lieutenant?"
Still glaring, Skull Kid said, "I'd rather be dunked in lava then become a sick bastard like you."
The Stalfos gasped. The Master Stalfos was furious. "You dare insult me in my own home? Surrounded by my own men? I shall kill you!" He stood up. The Stalfos backed away from the center of the room, knowing things were about to get intense. Every one of them hoped that the little imp might defeat the Master by some chance of fate. The Master Stalfos walked off of his throne, drew his sword and shield, and prepared to fight.
Skull Kid turned to Tael. "How do I beat this guy?"
Tael used Z-targeting as Skull Kid backed away from the Master, his dagger and shield ready. "His shield is impervious to attacks from any other being that isn't using magic. His sword can fly and homes in on its target. He can use his sword while hiding behind his shield. The first thing you have to do is find a way to break that shield."
How am I going to do that? Thought Skull Kid. The Master Stalfos threw his sword. It floated in the air then propelled itself right at Skull Kid. Skull Kid raised his shield, deflecting it. The sword wobbled then came back at him. Skull kid ran around Link's tree house, but the sword kept matching his movements. He tried running in circles, but the sword kept coming. Then he got an idea. If his shield is impervious to attacks from any other being that aren't magic, what about attacks from him? He ran towards the Master Stalfos, who was hiding behind his huge shield. He stood in front of the shield as the sword came right towards him. At the last instant, he jumped away. The sword struck the shield, shattering it. The Stalfos cheered until the Master glared at them. The Master picked up his sword and threw it at Skull Kid again. Skull Kid had another idea. He stood in front of the tree house. As the sword hurtled towards him, he jumped out of the way, and the sword imbedded
itself in the tree trunk. Cursing, Master Stalfos ran over to pull it out. As he struggled to pull out his sword, Skull Kid ran over and slashed at the skeleton's legs with his dagger. As the holy blade made contact with the evil monster's body, it glowed faintly. The cut Skull kid had made with the dagger burned with white flames. The Master Stalfos moaned and turned around. He jumped in the air, trying to stomp Skull Kid. He rolled out of the way and made a horizontal cut, hurting the Master Stalfos once more. Skull Kid continued slashing at the skeleton whenever he had the chance. Finally, the Master Stalfos could take no more. He groaned and fell to his knees, then fell further, hitting the ground. His body combusted and broke apart. The sword, still embedded in the tree, shattered. Skull put away his weapon and shield and looked around at the awestruck Stalfos. A minute later, they started cheering, for they were free. Deku was immediately set free and then led the
monsters to the village to free the others. Skull Kid went past them towards the tunnel to the Lost Woods/Woods of Mystery. As he started through the tunnel, Tael stopped him.
"What is it, Tael?" asked Skull Kid.
"Skull Kid, I just wanted to say two things. First of all, you did really well back there, fighting the Master Stalfos. I think Link and your mom would be proud."
Skull Kid grinned. "You mean that?"
"Yeah! You were totally cool! But as for the other thing, how did you get so resistant to whips?"
Skull Kid stopped. "Tael, remember how I told you all of my days of thievery?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, I lied a little. When I started getting captured near the end of my career, my captors didn't just throw me into a cell. I was tortured first."
Tael was shocked. "Why didn't you..."
"It was too hurtful to talk about, but I suppose I should tell you. When the Deku caught me, I was tied low on a post and the Scrubs got to slap me around with spin attacks until I fell unconscious. When the Gorons caught me, they forced me to listen to their karaoke. When the Zoras caught me, they slapped me with frozen herring. When the undead of Ikana Canyon caught me, they let the Redeads and Gibdos suck life out of me. When the humans caught me, they beat me with stick." He shuddered. "But the Gerudo were the worst of all."
"What did they do?" asked Tael, not sure he wanted to know.
"They whipped me, dripped hot oil on me, whipped me, hit me on the head with the broad side of their scimitars, whipped me, break my fingers, whipped me, break my toes, whipped me, dunked me in their sewer, whipped me, unleashed their pet Shell Blades on me, whipped me, punched and kicked me, whipped me, branded me with hot irons, whipped me, whipped me, and whipped me. Oh, and did I forget to mention they whipped me?" Tael stared at him in disbelief. "The Gerudo were the last people I tried to steal from. It was after that weeklong torture session that I decided to retire. And you know where that led to." He sighed.
Tael finally spoke up. "I'm sorry I brought it up." Skull Kid didn't respond as he walked into the tunnel. Tael flew after him. "Skull kid, I'm really, really sorry I"
Skull kid turned around. "Don't be sorry, Tael. You didn't know. Now come on, we have to find a monkey."
"You called?" said a voice from above. They looked around startled. A monkey jumped down from a tree. "I'm a monkey. Is there something you want?"
Skull Kid nodded. "Can you show us the way to Forestfall?"
The monkey nodded. "You should probably get some sleep first. I will show you in the morning. I'll show you a place where you can sleep safely."
"Thanks, we'd really appreciate that," said Tael. The monkey led them to a meadow with a tree covered by a soft bed of moss. Skull kid took off his hat so Tael could sleep in it. Leaving it on the ground, he stretched out on the moss and went to sleep.
The next morning, the monkey woke them up. He showed them a freshwater stream where Skull kid could wash up, and some tasty berry bushes. After eating, Skull Kid asked the monkey if they could go now. The monkey nodded. "Follow me!" He ran off into the woods. Skull Kid and Link gave chase. They ran past Snappers as they followed the monkey, barely dodging the deadly turtles. After about a half-hour of running, the monkey cam to a halt at the banks of a large pool of dark purple poison water. The small extinct volcano that was now Forestfall had formed the pool. The poison streamed down its sides, making the pool around its base. The streams of poison wove through the forest. All the plants on the stream banks were withered and dead from the poison. The monkey chittered. "This is Forestfall. If you wish to get to the temple within, you must have some way of bridging gaps and climbing. Well, I've got to get home. Good luck!" The monkey ran away.
"He was a very polite monkey." Commented Tael.
"Yeah, I wonder if he has any relation to that Oop Deku mentioned. Oh well. Let's climb this mountain." Said Skull Kid.
"But Skull Kid, the entrance is way up there! How do we reach it?" said Tael, indicating a ledge with a door halfway up the side of Forestfall.
Skull Kid whipped out his Hookshot and targeted a ledge closer to the ground with a dead tree. He fired and pulled himself over to the tree. He targeted another tree and repeated the process. A dozen trees later, they made it to the door. They walked in and found a tall ladder. Skull Kid climbed the ladder to the top and came out inside of Forestfall. The crater was filled with water that was an even darker shade of purple. There were many elevated bridges and pillars made from tree stumps, all with Deku Flowers and Mad Scrubs. Sticking out of the middle of the crater were two dead trees. A bizarre, new species of monster patrolled the bridges. "What are those things?" asked Skull Kid.
"Those are Mobloops," said Tael. "A new species of monster created by Odolwa. It's half Moblin, half Hiploop. Skull kid, I should warn you of something else. The monsters around and inside the temple are doing evil of their own free will, so you'll have to kill them to get by."
Skull Kid nodded. "I understand. Tell me more about these Mobloops." He said, looking at the hideous monster. It had the basic body and chain mail shorts of a Moblin, but a second set of arms and the head of a Hiploop. Also, it walked on all hands and legs.
"The Mobloop can kill you by knocking you into the poisonous water below. Try to knock it into the water instead, or hit it with a couple of attacks. You should probably turn into a Scrub to get across these bridges."
Skull Kid nodded and put on the Deku Mask. He skipped across the water to the nearest bridge, where he knocked an unsuspecting Mobloop into the water with a spin attack. He killed the nearby Mad Scrub and used its flower to get to the next bridge, where he killed another Mad Scrub and made the flight to a tall platform directly across from the entrance. It had flags hanging from it, a hexagonal platform with a Triforce symbol on it and an owl statue in the center, and an altar with the Deku Scrub symbol mixed with the Forest Temple seal. Skull Kid landed on it, unsure what to do. "Hey Tael, what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know. Maybe you should play that Sonata of Awakening Deku taught us?"
"Yeah, that might work." Skull Kid reached into his pack for his flute and pulled it out. Sticking it up to his snout, he played the Sonata of Awakening. At first, nothing happened. Then, the earth started shaking. The water rippled. The trees in the middle of the crater shook as suddenly, something erupted from the water, splashing poison everywhere. As a tidal wave of poison came hurtling towards Skull Kid and Tael, Tael quickly flew into Skull Kid's hat just before Skull Kid put up his Deku Shield, sealing them beneath a completely safe shell. The wave of poison splashed over them, and subsided. When the roar of the wave passed, Skull Kid dared to peek out from under the shell. When he saw what had caused the wave, he retracted his shell and shook Tael out of his hat.
"Hey, why'd you do...that...?" said Tael, before noticing the temple. Skull Kid and Tael had seen it before, back when Skull Kid had been possessed. But back then, he had been able to breathe under water to reach the temple thanks to the demon. But now, it had risen from the crater. It was a huge stone building, atop a massive stone base. The two dead trees were planted on the temple, their roots splayed over it. It looked much like it had before, but now it had the peaked roof of the Forest Temple. "Wow." Said Tael.
"Come on, we've gotta go in." said Skull Kid. He burrowed into the Deku Flower in front of him and flew over to the temple, landing in front of the door. He paused.
"Aren't you going to go in?" asked Tael.
Skull Kid would have grinned, but his snout didn't allow for that. "Of course I'm going in! I was just checking to make sure you were going in!"
"Are you saying I'm a coward?"
"Of course not! I just wanted to make sure you were catching up. I wouldn't want to lose you or anything."
"Great! Let's go!" Together, they entered the temple.
And this ends another chapter. If anyone has any suggestions for the temple puzzles, leave them in your review. There's a chance I'll use them, but I might not. It depends partly on whether or not you do review! So please review. I'll see you next installment.