A few nights later, the Great Deku Tree felt pain as he had never felt before. He knew. . . .
"Navi. . . ." he called. "Navi, come here!"
A bright blue fairy emerged from the Deku Tree's branches and flew down to face him. "What is it?" The sprite called Navi asked worriedly.
"Navi, can you feel it?" The Deku Tree asked urgently. "A climate of evil is descending upon the land. I had been waiting as long as possible, but now even I can't ignore it. . . . The time has come, Navi."
"Time for what?" Navi demanded, nervous for her guardian.
"Navi. . . go into the village. Find the boy without a fairy, find him, and bring him here. The time has come for him to begin his journey."
"Right away," Navi said, though her movements did not reflect it. She didn't seem to want to leave the Great Deku Tree, for fear he might not be there when she returned.
"Fly, Navi, fly!" The Tree insisted. "The fate of the forest, nay, the world, flies with you!"
Navi did not wait a moment longer. She turned and flew as fast as she could to the village.
Meanwhile, in his house, Link was dreaming again.
Tonight, his dream was not wispy and scattered as usual. It was all of a whole, and it was all making sense together.
In the dream, it was a dark, moonless, starless night, a night of a darkness indescribable. Link was standing outside a stone wall on the far side of a moat. The drawbridge was up, and torches on either side burned, trembling in the cold wind. He was standing there in the deafening silence as if he was waiting for someone, but he couldn't fathom who. Suddenly, the drawbridge was lowered, the chains rattling and drawing out the drama of the moment. Through the open drawbridge came first a white horse, white like moonlight, and on her back two riders, just like in Link's dream last night! One of them was an old woman, and the other one, a young girl, no older than Link. The girl turned around as if to say something, but before she got the chance, Link heard loud hoofbeats coming from the drawbridge. He turned around suddenly to find before him a tall, dark man with demonic yellow eyes seated on an armored black horse. The man threw back his head and began to laugh evilly.
"Link. Link!"
"Wha?" The boy sat bolt upright in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Was I dreaming. . .? It felt so real. . ."
"LINK!"
Link's head turned quickly to find the source of the voice. Floating about his head was. . . "A fairy. . .?" Link whispered. There was no denying it. The one who was waking him up was a small blue ball of light with two gossamer wings. . .a fairy!
"Finally, you wake up," Navi scolded. Then her tone turned kind. "My name is Navi. The Great Deku Tree says I'm gonna be your fairy! It's nice to meet you!"
"A fairy!" Link exclaimed. He leapt out of bed and would have hugged Navi if she had been large enough. "Really? My own fairy? Just wait until Mido hears about this!"
"Link, the Great Deku Tree wishes to—" But Link was already running out the door, full of excitement. "Link!" Navi called, fluttering after him.
Outside, Link was standing outside the door on his little balcony, surveying Kokiri Village with what seemed to be a new sight. "Link!" Navi said, catching up with him. "The Great Deku Tree has summoned you—!"
"Hey Link!" The boy looked down to the road outside his house to see Saria running up to him. She stopped short. "Is that. . .a fairy?!" She beamed.
"You bet!" Link answered. "My own fairy!"
"LINK!" Navi cried.
"That's great!" Saria said. "Finally, Link, a fairy has come to you!"
"YOU!" Navi flew around and hovered right in front of Link's eyes. "THE-GREAT-DEKU-TREE-NEEDS-TO-SEE-YOU!!" She shouted as loud as she could, flying at him repeatedly.
"Really? What for?"
"Can we just go find out. . ." Navi sighed, exasperated.
"Sure. Let's go!" Link said, climbing down the ladder to the ground. "What do you think, Saria?" Link said when he reached her.
"I think you should go find out why Father summoned you," she replied. ("YES!" Navi interjected.) "It's a great honor to have him specifically ask for you!"
"All right!" Link took off down the road in the direction of the Great Deku Tree's meadow. "Wait!" Navi replied, flying after as fast as she could.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. No Fairy." Mido was, once again, standing "guard" outside the entrance to the Great Deku Tree's meadow. "What do you want?"
"To see Father," Link panted.
"Haven't we been through this already? You DON'T HAVE A FAIRY. It's a wonder Father keeps you around at all, and you definitely can't see him!"
"Actually, he summoned me. And. . ." A smile grew on Link's face. "I do have a fairy." Navi fluttered out from behind Link's hat and floated quietly alongisde.. "So let me through," Link finished, grinning.
Mido was stunned. But after a few minutes the look on his face melted into its regular sneer. "No," he said flatly.
"Aggh. . ." Link was livid. He gathered his energy and just ran straight past Mido, disappearing into the trail.
"Hey!" The Kokiri leader called, then took off after him.
"Wait up! What are you trying to pull—?!" Mido shouted breathlessly as he ran after Link. He finally caught up to him at the edge of the clearing. "WHAT do you think you're doing?!" Mido demanded.
"Navi. . ." The Deku Tree's voice spoke. "So you have returned. But with two. . .?"
"Sorry, sir," Navi said, entering the clearing and looking angrily in Mido's direction.. "HE took the liberty to follow."
"Very well," the Tree said. "He may hear the story as well. Just keep quiet, all right?"
"A-Absolutely, Father," Mido stuttered, shocked to find that Link really had been summoned by the Great Deku Tree.
"Link. . ." The Tree stopped to think about the best way to say this. He finally decided: "Link, I have a curse upon me, of sorts. If you are ready, I would that you, and Navi as well, enter my trunk and dispel it."
"Of course," Link said, puzzled.
"Good. My thanks." The Deku Tree slowly opened his mouth, making for an entrance through which Link could proceed. "May Farore go with you."
Link, with Navi hovering nearby, slowly began to pick his way down the trail towards the Great Deku Tree. He was just about to enter when—
"Wait!" Mido called from behind. Link turned furiously. "Wait, wait, wait. If he's going in, I am too."
"If you must," the Great Deku Tree groaned.
"I must," Mido said, catching up to Link and giving him a triumphant grin. Link sighed, but accepted it. Cautiously, the two boys proceeded forth into the Deku Tree.
Their guardian's interior was not as one would imagine. It consisted of one room, tall and dark, with shadows falling into every corner. Link stepped forth slowly. Mido cowered along behind.
Suddenly, far above, there appeared one glowing red eye. The boys did not at first notice it. The eye watched them, blinking once or twice, taking in everything about its two assailants. After observing for a few minutes, the eye—and a great body behind it—released its grip on the ceiling and fell to the floor with a loud sound. Link and Mido turned around quickly to find themselves face-to-face with the beast. Slowly, it reached out one claw, centered it above Mido's head, and snapped off the end of the boy's hat.
Mido watched the piece of green fabric fall to the floor. He looked back up into the eye. "WAAH!" He screamed suddenly. The eye monster raised its claw and brought it down on the Kokiri leader's head, knocking him out cold. "Mido!" Link exclaimed. He turned to the monster angrily, and it stared menacingly right back. Link did not run away, but all the same backed up hastily for a few steps. The great beast kept advancing on him relentlessly. "Navi!" Link cried. "Help me!"
"Let me check it out." Navi buzzed forth to around the eye monster, distracting it momentarily. "Its name is Queen Gohma," the fairy reported hastily. "Her weakness is—" the fairy flew around it for a minute—"Oh! The eye! Shoot the eye when it turns red!"
"Okay!" Link said breathlessly. He pulled his slingshot out from behind his back and aimed it at the eye. After moving forth for a while, Gohma stopped to rest, and as she did so her eye turned from its pale green to blood red for one precious second. "GO!" Navi cried. Link shot. He missed.
"Oh…" The boy watched the monster with more fear than before. She kept right on advancing. Link ran all around the room, trying to tire her out. After a bit it worked. "SHOOT!" Navie yelled. This time, Link shot the monster right on target. Gohma fell over backwards, flinched for a moment, but then did not rise again. "Is she dead?" Link breathed.
"I don't think she'll be giving us any more problems," Navi confirmed. "Let's get Mido. Then we can leave." Navi flew over to the exit while Link went and collected the still-unconscious Mido from the corner.
Outside in the sunlight, the three stopped in front of the Great Deku Tree. The Tree looked awful; His bark had turned many unnatural colors. "Link. . ." He said with difficulty.
"Are you all right, Father?" Link questioned worriedly.
"I will die. . .but do not grieve for me. . .Link, a great journey lies before you. . . You are more courageous than I had ever hoped, and I am sure you will be successful in your quest. Link, go to the castle, the castle I showed you before. . .there is a princess in that castle, the Princess of Destiny. . .give her this. . . ."
Far above, the Great Deku Tree's branches parted. A light shone down in between them, and on that cascade of light rode a green and shining stone. "Kokiri's Emerald. . ." Navi sighed. The beautiful stone landed in Link's cupped hands. It was an emerald indeed, set ito a spiral-like gold fixture. It seemed to glow in the boy's hold. Link brought his head back up to the Great Deku Tree. "But what would she want with it?"
"All these things you will soon find out, and many more. . . Take Navi with you, and go to see the Princess. . . Please, just do this last thing for me. . . ." The Tree's great eyes closed with difficulty.
There was a pause. "He's not moving anymore. . . ." Navi said slowly. ". . .he is dead."
Link said nothing. Tears fell silently down his face.
"I will go and tell the village," Navi said, flying silently off.
It was right at this moment that Mido awoke.
"What's going on?" Mido asked suspicously. Then he saw the Great Deku Tree. "Is Father dead?!" The boy demanded. Link nodded. "What did you do to him?!" Mido raged.
"I. . .he told me to. . . ." Link tried, but his voice trailed off.
"You killed him! I knew that going in was a bad idea!" Mido was in hysterics.
"No, I—I didn't kill him, he—he told me to—"
"This is all your fault! You're not even a real Kokiri!"
"He sent me on a quest. . .I'm to see Hyrule's princess."
"A quest from the Great Deku Tree?!" Mido yelled. "Just how stupid are you?!"
"What am I gonna do, Mido? No one in town will believe me. . . You don't. . . ." Link said, not looking up.
"Run away, Link," Mido said, trembling with anger. "Run far away, and don't ever return."
Link said nothing, just nodded.
"I'll even give you a head start," Mido spat, then turned and followed Navi in the direction of the village.
Link sat quietly for a few more moments. Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a ching! and something hit the ground. The boy turned slowly. In the same beam of light that Kokiri's Emerald had come from, a sword stood in the grass, half of the blade embedded in the earth, standing at an angle. Link walked towards it and picked it up. "The Kokiri Sword. . .?" he said breathlessly.
Link stood with a new resolve. If the Great Deku Tree had wanted him to undertake this quest, whatever it was, then he was most certainly going to do it. He approached the ancient tree, took the sword, and cut into the wood, fashioning a shield for himself. Prepared with his sword, shield, and slingshot, Link started off into the woods. He most certainly could not go through the village.
As Link was walking, he heard Navi flittering along. "Link!" She called. "Where are you going?"
"Away," the boy said. "I'm going to the castle to see the princess. There is nothing here for me anymore."
"I'm coming with you."
"Good. I'd welcome the company." Link stopped and turned to Navi. "But I just killed the Great Deku Tree! Why would you want to follow me?"
"Is that what you think?" Navi said. "Come on, let's go." Link resumed walking, and Navi flew along behind. "Is that the Kokiri Sword?" She gasped, seeing his back.
"Yeah," Link said. "The Great Deku Tree's last gift."
"Impressive," Navi said. "Wouldn't Mido be jealous."
"Probably," Link muttered. He stopped with sudden realization. "Say, do you know the way to the castle from here?"
"Once we get out of the forest, how hard could it be? Just follow the guards."
"We're actually leaving the forest. . . This is for real, isn't it," the boy said, half to himself.
"Yes."
They reached the bridge in the Lost Woods, the last landmark between Kokiri Forest and the edge of the outside world. "Here we go," Link said, a touch of nervousness creeping into his voice.
"Link. . . ."
The boy and his fairy turned around. Saria was standing on the bridge.
"I knew you'd leave one day," she said slowly. "I knew, because. . .you aren't the same as me and my friends. . . ."
Link walked towards her slowly. "Saria. . . ."
The girl watched him sadly for a moment. Then, she reached into her pocket and held out a small wooden ocarina. "Don't try to explain. . . just take this. . . ."
Link gingerly picked up the ocarina. He looked up at his friend questioningly.
She watched him, doing her best to smile. "I hope when you play it, you'll think of the forest, and come back to visit."
Link did not know what to say, so he did the only thing he could think of. He turned and ran as fast as he could, away from the forest, his old life, his old friends—away from everything. . . .
He did not know what to think. He just ran.
