Sorry about the delay. My bad. Midterms and stuff. Er...sorry? *Cough*

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Forging: A legend Of Zelda Fanfiction

Chapter Two: A Deeper Involvement.

The only possible thing that could have rectified the situation at this point was a miracle. One that would have to be delivered on swift wings to help them at this crucial time.

The strange illness running rampant, the wolfos, and now an ominous warning from the Great deku tree.

The most immediate problem was that of the wolfos. It was the first one to surface outside of the forest meadow in well over three hundred years. Saria drove most of them off with her soft melodies. Harmful creatures seemed to dissipate when they heard her song.

Ferris immediately ran half a dozen strategies through his mind. Everything from driving it out to capturing it. He finally settled on the conclusion that it would have to be killed, for when wolfos are left to develop territory, it attracts more of them. As much as Ferris hated to harm any component of the forest, it was the lesser of two evils. The most difficult thing about killing the wolfos would be...well.....to kill it.

It would require a few of the stronger kokiri; Possibly himself, Tori, Jasckel and as much as he hated to admit it, Mido. Weapons were not kept in the forest except for times of need so an afternoon would have to be set aside just for the purpose of sharpening deku-sticks and gathering seeds. All so much trouble for a simple wolfos.

It was a natural trait of kokiri to be relatively weak. The Great deku tree was by far their most powerful commodity, as well as their deity, due to its magical potency and power. This tended to leave them with the short end of the stick when it came around to natural selection.

Oh, they have their strong points. Unnaturally agile and fairly swift, as well as their own communications with nature gave them the opportunity to avoid most confrontation but when it came to open fighting, they were dealt slim chances.

So naturally, situations like this one required planned action and cooperation with a group of the Kokiri. Not a small task when the most of them are 'granted' childlike blissful ignorance and a desire to do little more than play in the sacred meadow.

Ferris was usually given the job of compiling a band of volunteers to dispose of the larger creatures who wandered into the forest, but he doubted he could find any willing to face up to a monster like the wolfos.

They ate kokiri for breakfast.

Before he was given the chance to go any further with his thoughts, he found himself back at the entrance to his tree. Lani, who had fallen asleep sitting at his shoulder, now jumped up and stretched out her wings. She flitted around excitedly, embarrassed that she had dozed off. It wasn't a complete unlikelihood with the lazy afternoon atmosphere settling over the village. Even Ferris felt inclined to just sit back and forget all the troubles plaguing him. The problems were to pressing to dismiss that quickly though, and he soon found himself back at his desk, scanning over his samples.

Something was missing. He had compiled three full trays of vials and now a scattered few were gone with no clues left as to who had taken them. Ferris glared around as if expecting the culprit to surface any moment but after it produced no effect, he gave a weary sigh and headed for the door.

Before he was given opportunity to fully exit though, he heard a soft snuffle from somewhere in the room. It was coming from under his bed and he was willing to bet he knew who it was. He stalked back across the room and yanked the indignified Mido from beneath the bed and pulled him to his feet. Mido stood there as if it were the most natural place to be in the world, clutching the missing vials in his hand, and looking around the room with feigned disinterest.

"Mido." Ferris warned, and his head came snapping around at the sound of his name. "Tell me what in deku's name you are doing with my research before i throw you out the window."

Mido flinched as Ferris pulled the delicate samples from his grasp and pretended like he hadn't heard properly. Ferris was getting sick of his stupid behavior and heaved him up against the far wall ( with some difficulty) before asking again.

"Ill ask you for the last time, Mido. Im not in the mood today, i have places to be."

Mido finally turned red and muttered under his breath before sputtering out a rushed response.

"You've been locking yourself up and working on this stupid antidote for two weeks and I think I could do a better job." He challenged. "All i needed were a few samples to start from."

"You don't know the first thing about medicine."

"Yes I do. I know what that know-it-all Weled taught me."

Ferris had to admit that Weled tended to know things about the forest that no one else even thought of, but no way was he going to let Mido get away with it.

"So by stealing my research, you thought that you could find the antidote and make the others beg and worship you for it." He spat "You're no better than a dirty stalchild!"

"That's not true!" Mido shouted, leaving Ferris a bit taken aback. "I was worried about Saria you woodhead!"

Ferris released his hold on Mido's tunic to let him drop a few inches. It was understandable that he was worried, they all were, but he seemed particularly concerned about Saria all the time.

"What are you getting at Mido?"

"I just want some recognition, that's all." He turned his eyes to the floor. "You and Saria always do everything together and that leaves the rest of us a bit short-ended."

Ferris couldn't what he was hearing. And then suddenly, it dawned on him.

"You like her don't you!?" He laughed a bit "and all this time i thought you were just trying to make me look stupid. To think that you have a soft spot for Saria!" He trailed off.

"Quit it." Mido muttered. "Ill just leave."

He headed for the door, shuffling his feet, his head bowed low and he had almost reached the ladder on the porch when Ferris called out.

"I wont tell her Mido."

Mido looked relieved and let a little smile slip but caught himself and glared at nothing in particular before departing for his home.

Once Ferris was sure Mido had made it completely out of earshot, he burst out in wild laughter, bending over double to clutch his sides and tears leaked out down his cheeks in mirth while Lani flitted and shook about his head in amusement. He gasped out between his laughter:

"I wont tell her because she'd be scared out of her wits if she knew!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After he had settled himself a bit ( still chuckling whenever he thought of it) he made his way down to Saria's house and filled her in briefly on the situation. He tried to make it out to be better than it really was but she quickly saw the seriousness of the problem

They sat in silence on her bed for a while before she finally tucked her green hair behind her ear and spoke.

" The only way out of it is to kill the wolfos." Ferris hardened his expression at that, because for Saria to say something so grave (when she valued the lives of all the creatures in the forest, down to the tiniest deku-baba) Made it a confirmation of the truth he had already accepted. He outlined his plans for who should go and what it would take and together they worked out a few minor details before he remembered the grave parting words of the deku tree.

When he relayed the message, Saria turned white and her grip on the sheets tightened. She furrowed her brow and bit her lip and looked so distressed that Ferris had to push her gently back onto her pillow, regretting that he had told her.

He soothed her a bit by updating her on his research and how the village was doing but after he said his goodbyes and stood up to leave, she reached out and grabbed his rough hand with her small one.

"Ferris, the great Deku-tree has mad predictions before in my lifetime, and to this day, not one of them has been wrong." She was practically shaking now, and her fairy was huddling closer to her "Im scared Ferris. Something is going to happen to us. Even the trees can sense it, when i talk to them, they're restless."

"Shhhh Saria! Don't get excited, its bad for your health!" Ferris whispered.

"No! Ferris, something bad is coming, and im worried. I promise not to get excited, but you need to know that we cant dismiss this lightly." She shivered. "We need to prepare for the worst."

Ferris Nodded and squeezed her hand, her grasp went limp after a while and her breathing grew slow and shallow. Once her fairy stilled, he knew she was in deep sleep. He laid her hand down on the bed and lightly brushed her emerald bangs out of her face, whispering a silent goodnight before he slipped out the front door and back to his tree.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning Greeted the Kokiri village with cloudy but golden skies. The sun shone dimly between the light clouds and gave the whole forest the air of being basked in amber. Ferris spent the morning collecting three more samples and testing a few of them, but once afternoon rolled around, he faced the fact that he couldn't delay organizing the wolfos hunt any longer.

He made his way down to the know-it-all brother's house, a wide, hollow stump with a constantly burning hearth in the center. It was the grounds the kokiri used for their rare councils and emergencies. Ferris approached Bist, the middle know-is-all who was sitting on a stump outside of the house holding a device he once explained to Ferris called an abacus. He looked up as Ferris approached but when he spoke, his eyes were back on the abacus.

"Its about time you got here." He shook his head. "We need you to get that council together for the wolfos hunt."

So he knew already, Ferris wasn't surprised to see. Bist tended to be the most logical of the brothers and he had probably known the minute that Warden revealed the problem, what would have to be done.

Ferris nodded a brief hello to him and entered the stump, to be greeted by Weled, the youngest, and decidedly most annoying of the brothers. He bombarded Ferris with questions about his samples and recent developments in his work to which Ferris replied politely, though not enthusiastically. It took several minutes for him to be rescued by Domi and Anno, the elder twin know-it-all's.

He relayed his plan and they gave him their input. Above all the other Kokiri, he respected these two, the eldest Kokiri next to Saria, and both were wise and grounded individuals. Everyone, even Mido, looked to them in times of trouble for their wisdom, and their advice was always a welcome commodity. They agreed to host a council there that night to deal with the wolfos and asked Ferris only to gather the Kokiri on the east side of the village, while they handled the west. After formalities were exchanged, Anno set out to inform the west end of the council gathering while Domi took Ferris aside to have a private word with him.

"The others are growing restless Ferris. I trust that you will lead the wolfos hunt?" At Ferris' nod, he continued. "Good. The only matter I have then to discuss is this: earlier today, I went for a walk in the lost woods and encountered something most disturbing. I have kept it from everyone thus far, even Anno, at the risk of widespread panic."

By now Ferris was enthralled and overly anxious to hear the news.

"As you know, when we found Warden, he was without his fairy. I hoped that she would turn up in time, but this morning I was shown otherwise. I found her Ferris. She was barely alive, struggling to reach the Fairy fountain in the meadow. Her wings had been torn and her body was crushed. After I carried her there to heal, she told me that the wolfos had carried her off in its teeth and she lost consciousness but before she did, she heard a most disturbing thing. She swore to me on the life of her great Fairy, that she had been taken back by the wolfos, to a small band of Hylians!"

Ferris' breath caught in his throat. He searched for a reply, some logical explanation that could make the story go away, but he found none. He combed through his chocolate hair with his fingers and tried to steady his breathing. If what The fairy said was true, a Wolfos was the least of their problems. By then, Weled had wandered over to ask about the council and a meaningful look between Ferris and Domi was assurance that this development would stay between them until they learned more about it. Ferris tried to find a polite excuse to depart, but he didn't even register the reply. His head was buzzing with the news he had just absorbed.

He wandered across the village, occasionally telling another kokiri about the council, but his mind could only focus upon the possibility that Hylians had invaded the barrier protecting their forest.

The Great Deku tree's prediction was coming true in less time than anyone could have imagined.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Know what's sad? Getting only 2 reviews for chapter one is sad. But thanks sooo much to you guys who did review. Salutes go out to you.

Like it? hate it? Leave a review. I need input to go on.

I think i might make this into a ....10-16 chapter thing. Sort of a long one. It will be angsty and a bit involved.

But only if u review!!